Peace movement urges Gov. Whitmer to drop support for Michigan missile factory

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reviews the formation of Michigan National Guard troops as their commander-in-chief along with U.S. Army Major General Paul D. Rogers, adjutant general and director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, at Camp Grayling Maneuver Training Center, Mich., June 17, 2022. | Ashley Goodwin / Army National Guard

GRAYLING, Mich.—Activists with the peace organization CodePink are encouraging Michigan residents to write to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in opposition to a missile company’s potential development of a munitions facility in the state.

Saab AB, a Swedish aerospace and weapons company, announced earlier this year it intends to build a new munitions facility in the U.S., with Grayling, Mich., as a potential location. The company said it intends for the facility to “support the engineering and production of missile weapon systems for the U.S. military, such as components for the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) system, and close combat weapons.”

Odon, Ind., which is located about 25 miles away from the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, is also reportedly under consideration. Saab AB reportedly intends to announce its final site location in September and begin construction on the facility by 2026.

“Saab munitions have been used in numerous global conflicts with destructive effects, including the Gulf War, the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War,” CodePink said in a statement.

“These munitions have raised significant humanitarian and environmental concerns due to their potential to cause civilian casualties and environmental contamination,” CodePink said. “For instance, the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) and the AT4 system have been criticized for their lack of precision and disproportionate impact on civilians, infrastructure, and the environment.”

CodePink offers Michigan residents a letter they can send to Whitmer. The letter argues in part that the state should invest in sectors such as healthcare, education, renewable energy, and social services, instead of investing “in industries that perpetuate conflict, violence, and genocide.”

Whitmer has previously said that she supports developing the facility in Grayling.

“No one should be surprised that a company that is doing cutting-edge manufacturing is looking at a place in Michigan,” Whitmer said in June. “We do it better than anyone else. We’re really growing our manufacturing sector. And we know that all of the skills that we have — around autos and other types of manufacturing — are absolutely translatable to a growing defense industry. And so, I’m glad that Michigan is on everyone’s radar, as it well should be.”

Grayling is the site of the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center. At 148,000 acres, it is the largest National Guard training center in the United States. In April 2023, the state’s Department of Natural Resources rejected a proposal to more than double the size of Camp Grayling by adding 162,000 acres of state forest land. The proposal was rejected following months of public outcry and even opposition from Republican politicians such as Congressman Jack Bergman.

While the proposal was rejected, the Michigan DNR said it concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The memo states the DMVA is able to apply for limited land use permits to conduct exercises on up to 52,000 acres of eligible land. This memo is a point of concern for locals, such as those with Anglers of the Au Sable, a conservation group.

Camp Grayling has stirred controversy among local residents for, among other reasons, polluting water with PFAS, the so-called “forever chemical.” Exposure to PFAS (or polyfluoroalkyl substances) has been linked to higher rates of certain cancers, decreased fertility, high blood pressure during pregnancy, developmental delays in children, and other health issues. While the military first reported PFAS contamination at Camp Grayling in 2016, PFAS-containing firefighting foam has reportedly been used there for decades.

In 2020, the Michigan National Guard established the National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC), which encompasses Camp Grayling, the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, the Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township (roughly 27 miles from Detroit), and the Battle Creek Air National Guard Base.

The goal of the NADWC is to make the National Guard centers more attractive for private contractors and the Department of Defense to test new weapons technologies.

“Ever since we unveiled NADWC, my phone has been ringing off the hook with private industry trying to get into this space,” Lt. Col. James Crowley said in an interview with DBusiness Magazine in July 2022. “And the advantage is that we have a lot of availability and a lot of land for folks to come out here and play.”

“The interest I have as the commander here at Grayling is to try to create an environment where you always have the latest technologies around those war-fighting functions when they’re ready,” Col. Meyers said.

Foreign military units train at Camp Grayling during Northern Strike exercises, which are held bi-annually in January and August. These exercises are massive in scale and encompass the land allotted to Camp Grayling, as well as the airspace allotted to the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.

These exercises allow military units from multiple countries to train together at the same time and have even provided training for Taiwanese military forces, as reported by the Wall Street Journal in February 2023.

The state of Michigan and its residents have more to offer the country and the world, and efforts to turn this state into a playground for warmongers and weapons contractors should be resisted.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Brandon Chew

Brandon Chew is a journalist from northern Michigan.