Base Realignment and Closure

Base Realignment and Closure (or BRAC) is a process of the United States federal government directed at the administration and operation of the Armed Forces, used by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and Congress to close excess military installations and realign the total asset inventory to reduce expenditures on operations and maintenance, aimed at achieving increased efficiency in line with Congressional and DoD objectives. More than 350 installations have been closed in five BRAC rounds: 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 and the most recent round of BRAC completed and entered into law in November 2005.

History

Originating in the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 during the post-war drawdown, which was used in the 1960s by Robert McNamara (Kennedy and Johnson administrations) to close 569 US military installations ),^[1] the post-Cold War drawdowns have been legislated by the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1990 which provides "the basic framework for the transfer and disposal of military installations closed during the base realignment and closure (BRAC) process".^[2] Additional closures were effected in 1974's Project Concise and a 1976 follow-on program. The BRAC process was developed^[when?] in an attempt to achieve the government's goal of closing and realigning military installations despite the political challenges which often arise when facilities face reduction or elimination. Because a military base can bring millions of dollars in federal money to its locale each year, challenges raised by members of Congress from affected districts make such initiatives difficult. Congress created the BRAC process in 1988 as a politically palatable method to pursue such goals.

Process

The most recent process began May 13, 2005 when the Secretary of Defense forwarded his recommendations for realignments and closures to the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission. The BRAC is independent nine-member panel appointed by the President. This panel evaluated the list by taking testimony from interested parties and paying visits to affected bases. The BRAC Commission had the opportunity to add bases to the list, and did so in a July 19, 2005 hearing. The Commission met their deadline of September 2005 to provide the evaluated list to the President, who approved the list with the condition that the list could only be approved or disapproved in its entirety. On November 7, 2005 the approved list was then given to Congress which then had the opportunity to disapprove the entire list within 45 days by enacting a resolution of disapproval. This did not happen and the BRAC Commission’s recommendations became final.

BRAC Rounds

Past Rounds

1988 Commission

• Alabama Ammunition Plant
• Chanute AFB
• Fort Douglas
• Fort Sheridan
• Fort Wingate
• George AFB
• Hamilton Air Force Base
• Jefferson Proving Ground
• Lexington Army Depot
• Mather AFB
• Norton AFB
• Naval Station Galveston
• Naval Station Lake Charles
• Naval Station New York
• Pease AFB
• Presidio of San Francisco
• Leased Space - Alexandria, VA

1991 Commission

• Bergstrom AFB (Active Component only)
• Carswell AFB
• Castle AFB
• Chase Field NAS
• Eaker AFB
• England AFB
• Fort Benjamin Harrison
• Fort Devens
• Fort Ord
• Grissom AFB
• Treasure Island NS Hunters Pt Annex
• Lowry AFB
• Loring AFB
• Moffett NAS
• Myrtle Beach AFB
• Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Warminster, PA
• NAV ElecSysEngrCtr
• Naval Station Long Beach
• Naval Station Philadelphia
• Naval Station Puget Sound
• Philadelphia Naval Complex
• Presidio of Monterey
• Richards-Gebaur ARS
• Rickenbacker AGB
• Sacramento Army Depot
• Marine Corps Air Station Tustin
• Williams AFB
• Wurtsmith AFB

1993 Commission

The 1993 Commission report included^[3]

• Camp Evans - Fort Monmouth
• Cecil Field NAS
• Fort Wingate
• Marine Corps Air Station El Toro
• Griffiss Air Force Base
• Homestead AFB
• K.I. Sawyer AFB
• March AFB
• Mare Island Naval Shipyard
• Naval Air Rework Facility (NARF), Alameda
• Naval Air Station Agana
• Naval Air Station Barbers Point
• Naval Air Station Dallas
• Naval Air Station Glenview
• Naval Air Station Alameda
• Naval Aviation Depot Alameda
• Naval Aviation Depot Norfolk
• Naval Aviation Depot Pensacola
• Naval Hospital Charleston
• Naval Hospital Oakland aka Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, Oakland, CA
• Naval Hospital Orlando
• Naval Station Charleston
• Naval Station Mobile
• Naval Station Staten Island
• Naval Station Treasure Island
• Naval Supply Center Oakland, Oakland Naval Supply Center
• Naval Training Center Orlando
• Naval Training Center San Diego
• NESEC, St. Inigoes
• Newark AFB
• O'Hare IAP ARS
• Plattsburgh AFB
• Vint Hill Farms

1995 Commission

• Adak NAF
• Bergstrom AFB
• Camp Bonneville
• Castle Air Force Base
• US Army Operations Fitzsimons
• Fort Chafee
• Fort Greely
• Fort Indiantown Gap
• Fort McClellan
• Fort Pickett
• Fort Ritchie
• Letterkenny Army Depot
• McClellan AFB
• Military Ocean Terminal
• Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Indianapolis
• Naval Shipyard, Long Beach
• Naval Supply Center, Oakland, Oakland Naval Supply Center
• NAWC, Aircraft Div., Warminster
• NAWC, Crane Division Detachment
• NSWC, Dahlgren Division Detachment
• Oakland Army Base
• Ontario IAP Air Guard Station
• Red River Army Depot
• Reese AFB
• Roslyn Air Guard Station
• Savanna Army Depot Activity
• Seneca AD
• Sierra Army Depot
• Ship Repair Facility, Guam
• South Weymouth NAS
• Stratford Army Engine Plant

2005 Commission

Main article: Base Realignment and Closure, 2005

The Pentagon released its proposed list for BRAC 2005 (see Base Realignment and Closure, 2005) on May 13, 2005 (a date given the moniker "BRAC Friday," a pun on Black Friday). After an extensive series of public hearings, analysis of DoD-supplied supporting data, and solicitation of comments from the public, the list of recommendations was revised by the 9-member Defense Base Closure and Realignments Commission in two days of public markups and votes on individual recommendations (the proceedings were broadcast by C-SPAN and are available for review on the network's website). The Commission submitted its revised list to the President on September 8, 2005. The President approved the list and signalled his approval to Congress on September 15. The House of Representatives took up a joint resolution to disapprove the recommendations on October 26, but the resolution failed to pass. The recommendations were thereby enacted. The Secretary of Defense must implement the recommendations not later than September 15, 2011.

Major facilities slated for closure include:

• Fort McPherson, Georgia
• Fort Gillem, Georgia
• Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut (removed from list August 24, 2005)
• Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine (removed from list August 26, 2005)
• Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine
• Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota (removed from list August 26, 2005)
• Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico (temporarily removed from closure August 26, 2005, pending review of new mission assignment)
• Fort Monmouth, New Jersey
• Defense Finance and Accounting Service, New York
• Fort Monroe, Virginia
• Willow Grove Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base, Pennsylvania
• Naval Station Ingleside, Texas
• Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts (removed from list August 26, 2005)
• Navy Supply Corps School

Major facilities slated for realignment include these:

• Army Human Resource Command (HRC), Missouri, moving to the Fort Knox Military Installation in Kentucky
• Fort Belvoir, Virginia
• Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base to merge into Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington
• Fort Meade, Maryland
• Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
• Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois
• Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia (extent contingent on reopening the former Naval Air Station Cecil Field in Florida)
• Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota
• Eielson Air Force Base and Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
• Rome Laboratory, New York
• Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

Future rounds

2015 Commission

The 2005 Commission recommended that Congress authorize another BRAC round in 2015, and then every 8 years thereafter.^[4]

See also

• List of United States military bases
• Loss of Strength Gradient
• Category:Joint bases of the United States military^[5]

References

1. ^ "Highlands Radar Site Closing". The Daily Register (Red Bank, New Jersey). November 20, 1964. http://209.212.22.88/data/rbr/1960-1969/1964/1964.11.20.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-12. "McNamara Firm on Base Shutdowns …two naval shipyards, six bomber bases,…in 33 states and the District … 80 bases in the United States and 15 overseas … Portsmouth…Navy Yard … Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Brooklyn Army Terminal. … Springfield Armory … Temporary Team … Highlands Air Force Station … personnel will be inactivated by July, 1966, leaving Army radar unit at base intact … What's Behind Decision … Over the past four years 574 U.S. military bases around the world … McNamara struck 16 more Air Defense Command radar stations" 
2. ^ Flynn, Aaron M. (February 23, 2005). "Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC): Property Transfer and Disposal" (abstract at UNT Digital Library). Congressional Research Service Reports. http://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/CRSR/browse/?q=brac&t=metadata. Retrieved 2011-10-12. 
3. ^ "Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission - 1993 Report to the President" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. 1993-07-01. http://www.defenselink.mil/brac/docs/1993com2.pdf. Retrieved 2007-10-23. 
4. ^ http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0905/090905cdam1.htm
5. ^ Twenty-six bases are in the process of being re-aligned into twelve joint bases, with each joint base's installation support being led by the Army, the Navy, or the Air Force. See Joint Base Background (part 4 of the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam webpage) (on Hickam AFB's official website). Retrieved 2010-06-18. To access other parts of the webpage, go to the bottom of the right scroll bar and click on the down arrow (or the "page-down" double arrow). To go to earlier parts of the webpage, click on the up arrow (or the "page-up" double arrow). See Hickam Air Force Base #Internet webpage for a partial list of the webpage parts that discuss joint basing and BRAC.

External links

• Office of the Secretary of Defense, Base Realignment and Closure
• Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission
• Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding BRAC
• 1995 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission Report to the President
• BRACLandSales, the Department of the Navy BRAC Disposition Site
• 14,000 BRAC Documents hosted at the UNT Digital Library
• Office of the Secretary of Defense, Base Realignment and Closure