Coalition Sues to Keep N.J. Army Base Open (Ft Monmouth)

Foxnews.com ^ | September 2 | AP

[RDTF]

TRENTON, N.J. — A coalition of local and state officials, unions, contractors and soldiers on Friday filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn a federal panel's decision to close Fort Monmouth. The lawsuit alleges the process that aims to close the Army post was flawed, and asks a federal judge to prevent the Base Realignment and Closure Commission from presenting to the president the list of bases slated for closure. "We're doing this for the men and women overseas whose lives depend on the work at Fort Monmouth. If they're fighting for us, we think we shouldn't give up on them," said Rep. Rush Holt, whose district includes the post.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Last gasp effort to save a doomed base. The BRAC law is sound and has survived other attempts to short circuit it.

[FinallyBackInNH]

Well, glad to see the process hasn't been politicized...

Haven't these lawsuits been remarkably unsuccessful in previous BRAC rounds? I seem to recall a shipyard in Philly was a notable exception, but I think the only grounds that has really had any success was when they closed National Guard bases without concurrence of the governor of the state (who owns the National Guard in his/her state).

[RDTF]

Yep They probably don't have a prayer. From what I have heard they really want to shut Ft. Monmouth down and are determined to do so.

[Sooth2222]

I live close by to Fort Monmouth... Holt used to be my congressthing until we were gerrymandered into another Republican ghetto. He's an idiot and a useless idiot, to boot.

Anyway, I think there are a lot of more useful things to do with acres of prime Jersey Shore real estate than have an obsolete army base on it. He's p***ing up a rope, or at least I hope he is.

Rush Holt's district. Does the word "gerrymander" come to mind?

[sgtbono2002]

All of a sudden Democrat New Jersey is worried about our troops overseas.

[Yasotay]

If they want to keep it open ....volunteer to house the New Orleans citizens at Ft Monmouth....

[Jalapeno]

I worked in the "Hex" at one time. I am not surprised to see it on the list.

[World'sGoneInsane]

Anyway, I think there are a lot of more useful things to do with acres of prime Jersey Shore real estate than have an obsolete army base on it.

If you are from NJ, you probably read that there was a caveat to the BRAC commission's vote to close. For what you are calling an "obsolete" base, there was a major concern about it's usefullness.

You refer to prime real estate at the shore. What plans do you have for this prime piece of property?

[sassbox]

Rush Holt is a douchebag. Since when does he care about our troops?

I do think it wouldn't be a bad idea to use Fort Monmouth as temporary housing for folks displaced by the hurricane. But leftists like Holt should not be the people making that decision.

[Yasotay]

I was stationed at Fort Monmouth and you are correct, it doesn't serve much of a purpose .... I think it should have been closed at the end of the Cold War.

[GreenHornet]

I worked in the "Hex" at one time. I am not surprised to see it on the list.

I currently work at the fort, and wasn't surprised to see it on the list. After the 93 BRAC, which resulted in the move of just about all of Fort Monmouth's military units to other installations, there was never any real effort made to attract new military missions to the base. Consequently, it's almost exclusively a civilian office operation these days. You have a military base with very few military personnel assigned there (about 650, versus 5,500 civilian personnel). That's a very expensive infrastructure to maintain for so few military people.

[Jalapeno]

So where are those that are there going to go? Are the contractors like Telos and such going to pull up stakes and bug out?