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Noon speech may impact Fort Huachuca [More BRACs]
Sierra Vista Herald ^ | Bill Hess

Posted on 01/26/2012 1:12:48 PM PST by SandRat

SIERRA VISTA — At noon, Arizona time, the Secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chefs of Staff, the top uniform officer in America’s armed forces will be holding a press conference to discuss proposals to reduce the military budget.

Part of the proposals include the potential of having two Base Realignment and Closure rounds, one starting in 2013 and the other in 2015 Pentagon sources said.

The Defense Department has to reduce its budget, as part of the overall reduction of federal spending to lower the nation’s growing deficit, which currently exceeds $15 trillion. There have been a number of BRAC rounds in the past going back to 1996.

During each round the future of Fort Huachuca was a subject, with proposals ranging from closure, to reduction of missions to increasing missions.

The southern Arizona Army post is considered a high-tech installation with it being the home of the Army Intelligence Center of excellence and other intelligence training, headquarters for the worldwide Network Enterprise Technology Command which engages in communications and protecting the Army’s cyber networks, the Army Electronic Proving Ground, the Department of Defense Joint Interoperability Test Command and numerous other technology-driven organizations. The fort is also where the headquarters of the 11th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade and one of its four battalions, the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion are located. Of the brigade’s three other battalions, one is at Fort Bliss, Texas, which until last year was at Fort Huachuca and two are at Fort Hood, Texas.

The Signal Corps unit has deployed many times to Iraq and Afghanistan, providing communication networks for U.S. and coalition forces. Currently 70 members of the brigade headquarters are in Afghanistan for a year deployment, overseeing the communication networks in that nation.

In the past whenever a BRAC was in progress, civilian communities around the post came together to defend the installation.

The Fort Huachuca 50 was established to counter attempts, such as some by environmental groups which wanted the fort either closed or missions reduced as a water savings measure to protect the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, which was congressionally established in the 1980s.


TOPICS: Government; US: Arizona; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: brac; obama; panetta; pentagon

1 posted on 01/26/2012 1:12:54 PM PST by SandRat
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To: SandRat

Prepare for a dogfight over base closings.


2 posted on 01/26/2012 1:16:21 PM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (Eh ?)
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To: SandRat

This flyboy was TDY at Huachuca for training in 2000. A truly beautiful base that could be used to enforce border security. I know crazy talk...


3 posted on 01/26/2012 1:18:00 PM PST by TSgt (Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.)
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To: SandRat

Chicago-style payback under way. I imagine Arizona won’t have any bases left by the time Obama is done with Brewer.


4 posted on 01/26/2012 1:19:58 PM PST by SENTINEL (Romney is to Conservatism what Mormonism is to Christianity.)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

Prepare for a dogfight over base closings.


Yes, a pretend dogfight. Members of Congress will be told to make noise but not to cross the line. And they’ll do exactly that.


5 posted on 01/26/2012 1:22:12 PM PST by unkus (Silence Is Consent)
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To: SandRat

They spent millions and millions consolidating intelligence training there and would have to spend billions to relocate to facilities that can host the security level training necessary.

Idiot Panetta and demonrats.


6 posted on 01/26/2012 1:28:44 PM PST by Godzilla (3/7/77)
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To: SandRat

Dear hubby is MI, Ft “Hookachooka” is a second home to both of us. We have dear friends who are stationed there, in fact hubby is going tdy again out there in the near future. The area is really gorgeous. Dear daughter turned 6 there (hubby was tdy there for a few months between a pcs from Germany to Hood, so we tagged along). Her favorite thing was to run to her bedroom window and say good morning to “balloony” (a weather balloon, I think, that was on one of the mountains. We also adopted our beloved Bella Cat from the Sierra Vista animal control. One of the best cats I’ve ever shared my home with. :) After dear hubby was wounded in Iraq, and won his CoAD (continuation on active duty) we knew that our future would be at either the pentagon or ft Huachuca. The army set us to VA, but hubby has gone TDY to the hooka every year we’ve been here.

I might have to look into going to visit this trip, our son missed out on visiting tombstone, as he wasn’t born until we got to the Hood.


7 posted on 01/26/2012 1:49:29 PM PST by Cailleach
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To: SandRat
The Patch bump
8 posted on 01/26/2012 2:05:38 PM PST by ßuddaßudd (7 days - 7 ways a Guero y Guay Lao << >> with a floating, shifting, ever changing persona)
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To: TSgt

That idea is just silly.

At the rate BRAC is going we might as well just close them all. If obastard and the lefttards get their way we won’t need them anyway... there will be no troops but there will be even bigger armies of drones on the dole.


9 posted on 01/26/2012 2:07:11 PM PST by Sequoyah101 (Half the people are below average.)
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To: SandRat

Have spent a bit of time at “up-chuck-a”. Actually a nice installation, and a nice TDY destination. Given they just established the CoE for USAIC, it seems like a waste to BRAC it.


10 posted on 01/26/2012 2:19:14 PM PST by LambSlave
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To: SandRat
MCain't will pander to 0 and have it remain open. He fought for it in the past and earmarked millions for Huachuca and Davis-Montham in the past.

http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.Speeches&ContentRecord_id=54e61ff5-fbfe-4491-a207-4b559e39f134&Region_id=&Issue_id=

McCain will receive it as a reward for backing Romneybama. And the sunfried brains of Arizona will vote for him again because McCain't looks good on paper by keeping the base(s) open. McCain't can continue to stab veterans in the back in every other meaningful way.

With this, maybe some of the contracting companies may start to donate to his campaigns again.

http://wizbangblue.com/2008/02/18/war-advocate-john-mccain-fails-to-attract-defense-contractor-donations.php

11 posted on 01/26/2012 2:26:24 PM PST by Repeat Offender (While the wicked stand confounded, call me with Thy Saints surrounded)
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