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Pentagon targeting bases, depots
Knoxville News Sentinel ^ | 2/6/5

Posted on 02/06/2005 6:23:04 PM PST by SmithL

The Pentagon is piecing together its most radical base-realignment plans ever, impacting life on a quarter of all of its military bases and depots around the United States.

Expect closings that will be far more sweeping than previous rounds. Auditors claim the Pentagon would save $7 billion a year from those closings, and the Pentagon this year is under orders from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to reconfigure its forces to better fight the war on terrorism.

Translation: Expensive bases built to fight the Cold War are no longer needed.

Topping the hit list: Military depots and small National Guard and Reserve bases. The generals and admirals estimate that at least $20 billion could be saved privatizing the routine repair work depots do overhauling ships, planes and tanks. States already have hired teams of $400-an-hour Washington lobbyists to defend the jobs of thousands of civilian mechanics and other employees.

Big bases aren't exempt. The Air Force brass grump that they can't let pilots train on Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix when endangered Sonoran pronghorn antelope are spotted nearby, and the admirals argue it would make economic sense to relocate Navy air support units to Arizona from the crowded and expensive real estate surrounding the U.S. Navy base in San Diego.

Even the Pentagon's futuristic think tank, known as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Army's highly praised operations in Natick, Mass., aren't sacrosanct.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: baseclosings; brac; militarybases
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1 posted on 02/06/2005 6:23:04 PM PST by SmithL
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To: SmithL
This round of base closings might seem "painful" to a lot of folks. But after it's decided and the dust starts to settle, I think a lot of good is going to come out of this.

Thank heaven we have grownups in this administration who don't duck tough changes.
2 posted on 02/06/2005 6:27:46 PM PST by 68skylark
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To: 68skylark

They talk but then the Congressmen starts yelling about THEIR economies and there we go.


3 posted on 02/06/2005 6:29:58 PM PST by MEG33 (GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES)
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To: MEG33
They talk but then the Congressmen starts yelling about THEIR economies and there we go.

Yeah, it's very unseemly. I expect liberals to act childish. But I get disappointed when I see "conservative" politicians do the same -- politicians who are supposed to have the greater good in mind.

It's hard to have any heroes in politics when everyone acts the same -- left, middle and right.

4 posted on 02/06/2005 6:34:22 PM PST by 68skylark
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To: 68skylark

All politics is local.


5 posted on 02/06/2005 6:35:56 PM PST by MEG33 (GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES)
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To: SmithL
Let's get the base in Turkey closed. The base is useless for Turkey not allowing us to use it. They prohibited the use during Iraq War. What is the use if they continue to prohibit the use?

If the DOD wants less base, then they would need Mobile Offshore Bases. It's a take-it-anywhere-on-sea base. Just dock it to other base at sea ports as an extension when there are no ongoing missions. Depart it to the place nearby operation area when it's needed.






6 posted on 02/06/2005 6:36:00 PM PST by Wiz
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To: MEG33
All politics is local.

I guess. I guess all politicians have to throw a tantrum about "their" military base -- damn the greater good. I guess it's the price of admission to Washington, and we can't expect anything better, even from the "best" politicians.

7 posted on 02/06/2005 6:40:53 PM PST by 68skylark
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To: 68skylark
This round of base closings might seem "painful" to a lot of folks. But after it's decided and the dust starts to settle, I think a lot of good is going to come out of this.

Rather than close OUR bases, how about us closing the bases in Germany and Korea? Clinton downsized our military and you see the shortage of men we've had to work with in Iraq. Also, we could stop funding terrorist nations, and use it here to build our military and use them on our borders. I think we need to have a new policy that says AMERICA FIRST!!!!

8 posted on 02/06/2005 6:43:18 PM PST by NRA2BFree (NO AMNESTY, NO UN, NO PC, NO BS, NO MSM, NO WHINY @SS LIBERAL BEDWETTERS, NO LIBERAL JUDGES! YEAH!)
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To: SmithL

The only consideration should be military necessity. On the other hand, it would be fun to close bases in any state with Senators like Kennedy/Kerry, Fienstein/Boxer, Murray/Cantwell.


9 posted on 02/06/2005 6:55:31 PM PST by Blue Screen of Death (/i)
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To: Blue Screen of Death
Too late. They closed every base in the SF Bay area a long time ago. That's why I'm an EX-military contractor.
10 posted on 02/06/2005 6:58:45 PM PST by SmithL (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?)
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To: NRA2BFree

Closing bases has nothing to do with the size of the military. Some bases can be consolidated..some are leftovers from WW2 requirements.


11 posted on 02/06/2005 7:27:14 PM PST by MEG33 (GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES)
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To: SmithL; Shermy

The thing is, once the base is closed, there is no going back. We have all of these extra bases because we once had a military twice the size it is now, and no longer do.

I admire Rum and I admire what he is able to do with what he has to work with. But I'm concerned that the military is undersized, when we seem maxed out with one regional war.

Replacing high-priced real estate with lower priced real estate somewhere else makes sense; closing down high priced real estate and not replacing it gives you a one-time boost to your budget, but otherwise it is only a boost to real estate developers.

We've many of us railed against Clinton for his bone-deep cuts to the military, cutting both ground troops and the fleet by almost half. That was cashing in the "peace dividend". But fleets and divisions can be built back up if the bases are there to house them. Close the bases though, and unless you replace them somewhere else, you are accepting the Clinton-sized military as the new standard.


12 posted on 02/06/2005 7:27:28 PM PST by marron
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To: marron

http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/020305/loc_brac001.shtml


Lobbyists fight potential base closings

TACOM appears on Internet list of sites under consideration



13 posted on 02/06/2005 7:33:35 PM PST by MEG33 (GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES)
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Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the House Armed Services Committee in July 2001 that the Pentagon maintained 25 percent more facilities than it needs, even after four rounds of base closings in the 1990s. By some accounts, the excess military bases annually cost taxpayers an estimated $3.5 billion.


14 posted on 02/06/2005 7:37:21 PM PST by MEG33 (GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES)
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To: MEG33

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/brac.htm
Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)


15 posted on 02/06/2005 7:40:15 PM PST by MEG33 (GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES)
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To: MEG33; SmithL
Closing bases has nothing to do with the size of the military.

I hope you are right. Obviously, a fair portion of our military can continue to be forward based, we should be establishing permanent basing close to where we are likely to use it, closing our German bases and putting down more roots in the Asia Pacific region.

But closing major US bases looks like closing the barn door to make sure the horse never gets back in. It worries me. We've cut the military, so we don't need so many bases, which means then that we accept the Clinton-sized military as being the optimum for future requirements? Does this mean I have to quit condemning the Clinton cuts?

16 posted on 02/06/2005 7:41:31 PM PST by marron
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To: MEG33
Closing bases has nothing to do with the size of the military. Some bases can be consolidated..some are leftovers from WW2 requirements.

Very true. Closing bases does not mean that you are reducing troop strength, or impacting readiness. It's very expensive for DOD to continue to bankroll the infrastructure/support services they are required to maintain as long as there are SOME military on a given installation. Holding onto unused (and unneeded) real estate does not serve the best interests of the military, or the taxpayer.

17 posted on 02/06/2005 7:53:11 PM PST by GreenHornet
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To: SmithL

It wouldn't bother me if they closed all U. S. bases in Europe, England and Japan. The Second World jWar is over!


18 posted on 02/06/2005 7:54:04 PM PST by upcountryhorseman (An old fashioned conservative)
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To: upcountryhorseman

There are needs for some overseas bases.


19 posted on 02/06/2005 8:04:56 PM PST by MEG33 (GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES)
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Comment #20 Removed by Moderator


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