States fight BRAC

The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) committee process is always approached with trepidation by civilian leadership in military communities across the United States.

There was a great deal of national table-talk regarding the preparations states and communities made in an attempt to stave off the closure of local bases, and lots of discussion surrounding the initial reactions after the list was released earlier this year. Let's now take a look at the various ways in which states and communities attempt to save their bases already slated for closing.

Like the previous BRAC round, the current one takes place during a paradigm shift. The last round began as the Cold War was ending and the U.S. worked to revamp its force structure and strategies to fit the changing world. The results of that were new plans with the heart being our capability of fighting two regional conflicts simultaneously. Now – following the events of September 11, 2001 – the strategy has again shifted. The war on terror – both the overseas operations and the homeland security mission – has created new considerations.

Since Don Rumsfeld's return to the Pentagon in 2001, the buzzword in the Department of Defense has been "transformation." It's not been easy. Attempts at culture change in a large bureaucracy like the defense establishment are often fraught with difficulty. But significant strides have been made through the development and rollout of new technology and the exigencies of war since late 2001.

The current BRAC round, along with the latest Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), are the latest weapons in the Secretary's arsenal aimed at pushing through the larger changes he has been attempting.

The set of final criteria for base closures was promulgated in January and includes considerations based on military value that includes mission capability and operational readiness, the availability of training space (land, air, and water), the ability to handle surges and contingencies, and concerns over costs and manpower. However, a list within the criteria includes other considerations like environmental impact, timing of costs and savings, infrastructure, and even the economic impact on the surrounding communities. These criteria are intended to be used along with force structure plans and infrastructure inventories to decide which bases to close or realign.

The BRAC process and the reactions to it differ little from round-to-round other than the fact that the names of the states involved change. In the last round, S.C. Senators Fritz Hollings and Strom Thurmond were not able to stop Myrtle Beach Air Force Base or the Charleston Naval Base and Shipyard from closing despite all of the logical arguments and jibes at other bases in an attempt to keep them open.

Local politicians took to their podiums for press conferences almost immediately after the initial list was released in May to decry the impact on their local community and, in many cases, portend a massive degradation of American military strength if the affected base in their particular political subdivision were to close. Many states, in attempt to capitalize on the current terror threat situation, have argued that their bases slated for closure are "vital" to homeland security missions.

Georgia – specifically the Atlanta area – suffered significant hits on the base closure list with Forts McPherson and Gillem, Naval Air Station Atlanta and the Navy Supply School in Athens. Whereas, several other bases in Georgia actually gained new missions. In fact, Governor Sonny Perdue's office issued a press release on May 13 pointing out that Georgia was second only to Maryland in the number of missions gained. Perdue took a measured approach that day as he and the state's two U.S. Senators visited the affected areas. While vowing to fight to keep the bases open, the Governor also vowed to help re-develop communities impacted by closings. Other states, including Maryland, have taken this same approach.

As the BRAC commission took its show on the road in recent months, more opposition in local communities has reared its head, often with blunt-to-harsh rhetoric. A recent wire report suggested that at the Georgia hearings, words like "arbitrary," "short-sighted," and "wrong" were freely tossed about by local base-supporters.

A recent report from the Montgomery Advertiser discussed the fight against relocating several Air National Guard units, including Alabama's 117th Refueling Wing. (One of the other refueling bases affected was Bangor Air National Guard Base in Maine, which processes more jet fuel than any other base in the nation, according to Maine Guard officials.) The Advertiser article mentioned that the BRAC commission's legal counsel released a memo stating that the movement of all the aircraft from a particular Guard base would be illegal without permission of that state's governor. According to other reports, a Justice Department ruling on the matter is expected to be released, soon. Additionally, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and the state's senators – Arlen Spector and Rick Santorum – filed suit against the Defense Department last month to try and stop the relocation of the 111th Fighter Wing. Other states, including Connecticut and Illinois, are looking at similar lawsuits. I recall that previously some Illinois congressmen, including Speaker Dennis Hastert, were discussing this idea in the months leading up to the release of the BRAC list. Jeff Quinton

BRAC Commission Chairman Anthony Principi has asked for an explanation of the moves and also why the adjutants general of each state were not consulted before the move. The Pentagon claims the AGs were indeed notified while the National Guard Association is urging a rejection of the plan. Rumsfeld is expected to be asked about this move, along with all the other proposals, when he testifies before the BRAC commission Monday.

Tennessee's Adjutant General has questioned some of the closings and realignments on the Air Guard side as well. However, Major General Gus Hargett has discussed the elimination of Army Guard jobs in his state as part of a process that will result in unit re-stationing and consolidation. Hargett's concerns on the Air Guard side relate to the experience level of pilots and crews in the Guard and how that experience could be lost if units were moved across the country. The experience level of pilots in the Air Guard has already resulted in plans for more active-duty pilots to train alongside the 169th Fighter Wing of the South Carolina Air National Guard at McEntire Air National Guard Base (currently in the process of being renamed McEntire Joint Reserve Base).

Connecticut, where the Navy's Groton submarine base is slated for closure, seems to be taking one of the most aggressive approaches to fighting base closures. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro recently attacked Pentagon claims about redevelopment of closed bases by pointing to the negative economic impact on Stratford in her state after the closing of an Army Engine Plant in a previous round of closures. The Defense Department's BRAC website includes numerous articles discussing the successful redevelopment of areas with closed bases, including – most recently – Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center and Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado.

In addition to attacking on the redevelopment front, Connecticut has taken shots at bases in other states where the submarines would likely move with most of the venom reserved for Kings Bay in Georgia. According to the Associated Press, much of the Connecticut hearing before the BRAC commissioners was spent pointing out deficiencies in Kings Bay. Connecticut officials have also argued that attack subs should be moved to Groton from Norfolk. The Virginia and Georgia officials, including Congressman Jack Kingston from the Peach State, have pointed out that they were devoting most of their time to trying to save bases slated for closing rather than fighting for jobs that might move to their states. Kingston later sent a letter supporting the move of the subs from Groton to Kings Bay.

All of the competing constituencies at the local, state and federal levels make this a Gordian knot for the BRAC commission to cut through before they release the final list in September. The process does include concern for the impact on the affected communities, but, as BRAC spokesman C. James Schaefer said last week, "They have to realize the commission is going to put a priority on military value first and foremost."

The commissioners should indeed follow all of their criteria on which bases to leave on the list and which ones to remove. But, they should not be unduly influenced by local politicians or by warnings of local economic desolation. Reports have pointed out that most of the areas with problems redeveloping have resulted from environmental problems stemming from the former bases. Mitigating those sorts of problems should be taken care of if-and-when bases are closed.

The bottom line is that the process is designed to get the most bang-for-the-buck for the U.S. military based on the current threat and the current force structure. Parochial interests are indeed the most important ones for people who may find themselves out of a job or thrown out of office in the next election because of a base closing, but the base closure commission must look at the big picture.

Given the facts, I seriously doubt there will be any major reversals from the original list. I also expect the shrillness from some of the states to increase as the process moves forward, and I'm sure there will be some Democrats alleging that bases in their states were closed for reasons of political payback, just like there were Republicans making the same allegations against former President Clinton during the last round (though the process actually began under his predecessor).

Fact is, situations like those of Senator John Thune prove that the process is more nonpartisan than many would like to believe. One of the reasons Thune defeated Tom Daschle last fall was the perception that he could do a better job of keeping Ellsworth Air Force Base from closing. Ellsworth is now on the BRAC list slated for closure and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has been stumping for Thune and Ellsworth at the same time in an attempt to bail Thune out.

--- A former Army National Guard intelligence analyst, Jeff Quinton has discussed the Base Realignment and Closure issue as a guest commentator on MSNBC.

It's proven to be extremely difficult to get off of a BRAC list once it is made, but I would like to brag that one of my family members gave the presentation to the commission for saving his base.

I don't think anyone on the list is holding their breath on any change.

Many people who live near military installations hate the military personnel and the service they represent, but love the money that the installation brings in, especially if they have a business that enables them to gouge military personnel. Then, when the installation is in danger of being closed or cut back, these same people suddenly love military personnel and can't do enough for them.

I got Bracced! My office building can't be defended against terrorist attacks IAW the DHS guidelines. The reason my organization may wriggle of the hook, is that they'd have to extend the DC Metro 10 additional miles. It's not easy extending anything in Northern VA. It's all somebody else's land.

People around here (except for the university crowd) by and large support the military and don't want the Air Force Base to close. Thankfully, it was pointed out at our local BRAC hearing that the committee is working off of outdated information regarding the size of the AFB landing field and its mobilization capability.

Especially considering that, of all the drivel Adult Swim puts on in its "comedy" block, The Brak Show is/was one of only two that are worth watching (the other being Futurama).

LOL You beat me to it.

The Brak Show cracks me up!

Anyway, here's Zorak:

What gets me is Adult Swim's gawd-awful anime stuff. Samurai Champloo is actually pretty good, but Paranoia Agent and S-CRYE-d (sp?) are teh suxx0rz.

I'd LOVE to see Futurama brought back into production the way Family Guy was.

"GOOD NEWS, everyone!" "With my last breath, I curse ZOIDBERG!" "Tell them I hate them!"

lol, you and I are exact opposites, then. The anime section is the only reason I still watch Adult Swim. Although, I've seen most of the episodes of the series that I want to watch at all on it (FLCL, Cowboy Bebop, Case Closed). Samurai Champloo is cool, I agree; and I don't care much for PA or s-CRY-ed, but I still watch Inuyasha religiously (and have since it debuted on AS some three or four years ago). I was disappointed when they took Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex off the air before I'd seen the last episode, though.

Oh, and just so you know, all of the pics on your homepage aren't showing up for me. Just little red 'x' marks.

Yeah - I know. They were previously kept on my site, but my host went belly-up.

We watched Inuyasha last night. It was a good one, too - a bitter-sweet little ghost story set mostly in modern Tokyo instead of in the demon-infested Feudal Era.

I've gotten to like Full Metal Alchemist, too.

They cancelled Ghost In A Shell?? The swine! But you can bet it will be available on DVD before long.

We watched Inuyasha last night. It was a good one, too - a bitter-sweet little ghost story set mostly in modern Tokyo instead of in the demon-infested Feudal Era.

Yeah, I watched part of it too. Mon-Wed are Inuyasha re-runs; Saturday is when they air the newly dubbed ones.

I've gotten to like Full Metal Alchemist, too.

It's ok, but I've always liked Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex more. I've started watching it a bit more, recently, though.

They cancelled Ghost In A Shell?? The swine! But you can bet it will be available on DVD before long.

I think they're up to Vol. 6 of 7 now. And Season Two (aka "Second Gig") is supposed to be coming to America soon.

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