Base Realignment and Closure, 2005

The preliminary 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list was released by the United States Department of Defense on May 13, 2005. It is the fifth Base Realignment and Closure ("BRAC") proposal generated since the process was created in 1988. It recommends closing 33 major United States military bases and the "realignment" (either enlarging or shrinking) of 29 others. On September 15, 2005, President George W. Bush approved the BRAC Commission's recommendations, leaving the fate of the bases in question to the United States Congress. Congress had a maximum of 45 days to reject the proposal by passing a joint resolution of disapproval, or the recommendations automatically enter into effect. Such a resolution (H.J.Res. 65) was introduced to the House of Representatives on September 23 2005, by Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL) (no such resolution was introduced in the Senate). The House took up debate of the resolution on October 26 2005. The resolution failed to pass, thereby enacting the list of recommendations. The Secretary of Defense must begin implementing the recommendations by September 15, 2007 and complete implementation not later than September 15, 2011.

Commissioners

*Anthony Principi— Chairman
*James H. Bilbray
*Philip Coyle
*Admiral Harold W. Gehman, Jr. (USN)
*James V. Hansen
*General James T. Hill (USA)
*General Lloyd W. Newton (USAF)
*Samuel K. Skinner
*General Sue E. Turner (USAF)

Justifications

Pentagon officials calculated that, if adopted in full by the nine-member BRAC Commission, the recommendations would have saved almost $50 billion over 20 years. The BRAC Commission (officially known as the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission) disputed this claim, pointing out what it considered to be significant flaws in the Department's methodology. The Commission recalculated the 20-year savings of the DOD recommendation list at just above $37 billion. Between late May and late August, the Commission reviewed the list and amended many of the Pentagon's recommendations, removing several major installations from the closure list. The Commission has calculated the overall 20-year savings to the government in carrying out its amended list of recommendations as close to $15 billion.

Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on May 12, 2005 that the two-year effort to produce the list had several objectives:

:*better integrate active and reserve units:*rearrange forces to be able to act around the globe:*make the military more flexible and agile:*improve cooperation between military service branches while training and fighting (ironically many Air Force combat units have converted to non-combat duties):*convert unneeded capacity into warfighting capability

The 2005 BRAC round is the fifth since the process was initiated in 1988, and it is the first since 1995. It differs significantly from its predecessors in several respects:

:*it is the first with a nine-member commission (the 1991, 1993, and 1995 commissions had eight members):*it is the only stand-alone round authorized by Congress (the 1988 BRAC round was initiated by the Secretary of Defense, and the 1991-1995 rounds were authorized together in the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990):*it is the first BRAC round focused on military force transformation, not infrastructure reduction:*it is the only round to form part of a worldwide defense infrastructure review that includes similar examination of U.S. installations overseas:*it is the first BRAC to significantly impact the National Guard, causing several states to file legal proceedings attempting to stay or cause recommendations to be thrown out:* Targeted examples of Joint Bases for closure when creation of joint facilities was stated as a main goal.:* Targeted some of the most decorated units in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq including these:

::*102nd Fighter Wing — The F15s flown by the 101st Fighter Squadron were the first responders on 9/11::*VMFA-321 — Based at Andrews Air Force Base, this Marine Reserve squadron flew combat air patrol (CAP) missions on 9/11; many members reported for duty long before any official call.::*VFA-201 — A Navy Reserve Squadron called to take part in the first Reserve squadron deployment as part of a Carrier Air Wing since the Korean War.:* Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove was slated for closure, even after it was stated as a perfect base for Homeland Security operations. In fact, the US Customs Service flew EP-3 Orion AWACS aircraft from the base immediately following 9/11. The base had units from every branch of the DOD. Each branch of the DOD was represented at the base across various missions. As such, Willow Grove often was key for joint training missions, A-10s working with F-14s and Marine Aircraft Group 49 forward air Controllers (FACs).

Recommendations

Major bases slated for closure (ordered by branch of the military)::*14 major Army bases:*9 major Navy bases :*10 major Air Force bases

Major facilities slated for closure include these::*Fort McPherson, Georgia:*Fort Gillem, Georgia:*Naval Submarine Base New London in Connecticut (removed from list August 24, 2005):*Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine (removed from list August 26, 2005):*Naval Air Station Brunswick in Maine:*Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota (removed from list August 26, 2005):*Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico (temporarily removed from closure August 26, 2005, pending review of new mission assignment):*Fort Monmouth in New Jersey:*Defense Finance and Accounting Service in New York:* Fort Monroe, Virginia:*Willow Grove Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base in 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) in Missouri, moving to the [http://www.Knox.army.mil/Fort_Knox_BRAC_Updates.html Fort Knox Military Installation] in Kentucky.:*Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.:*Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois:*Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia (extent contingent on reopening the former Naval Air Station Cecil Field in Florida):*Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota:*Eielson Air Force Base and Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska:*Rome Laboratory in New York:*Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio:*Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas:*Wilford Hall Medical Center in Texas

The process of closing bases and moving people and activities must begin within two years and end within six years and would incur considerable initial cost. Somewhat less than half of the eventual savings would come directly from eliminating the cost of running closed bases. More than half would come from consolidating administrative, technical, and industrial services and from increasing the amount of joint military services and facilities available for education, training, intelligence, medical care, supply, and storage.

Lawsuits Over National Guard Realignments

Unlike previous BRAC actions, the 2005 BRAC called for major changes for National Guard units throughout the country. The result was the recommendation for the realignment of numerous Guard bases and the closure of several more. A number of states filed lawsuits to block the realignment of National Guard units, arguing that in doing so, the federal government would have been trampling over states' rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Most of the state lawsuits were settled out of court through compromise deals with the Pentagon and Congress over the BRAC recommendations.

ee also

*Distance in military affairs

External links

* [http://www.brac.gov/ 2005 BRAC Commission official website]
* [http://www.defenselink.mil/brac/ Department of Defense BRAC 2005 official website]
* [http://www.defenselink.mil/brac/pdf/Vol_I_Part_2_DOD_BRAC.pdf Detailed DOD BRAC Recommendations] (in PDF format)
* [http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/050513_Base_CLosings.pdf Short summary of closure and realignment impacts by state] (in PDF format) - MSNBC
* [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2005/20050513_1081.html "BRAC 2005: Closings, Realignments to Reshape Infrastructure" article]
* [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2005/20050512_1054.html "BRAC 2005: Rumsfeld Recommends 5 to 11 Percent Cut in Infrastructure" article]