news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050513/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/base_closings
Pentagon is proposing the most sweeping changes to its network of mil itary bases in modern history, a plan that would close 33 major faciliti es in 22 states and reconfigure hundreds of others to achieve savings an d promote cooperation among the armed services.
More than two years in the making, Friday's recommendations by Defense Se cretary Donald H Rumsfeld represented his attempt to balance a whirl of competing forces.
Afghanistan, the economies of local communities and political pressur es. While state officials, community leaders, lobbyists and members of Congre ss combed through a thicket of data the Pentagon presented, the overarch ing theme of Rumsfeld's plan was surprisingly simple: To be more combat ready and affordable, the individual services must become leaner and mor e unified. An airfield next to Eglin is t he headquarters of Air Force Special Operations Command. Out would go the crown jewel of the Army hospital system: the venerable W alter Reed hospital in Washington. The hospital would move staff and ser vices to the National Naval Medical Center in nearby Bethesda, Md, to c reate a new, expanded facility carrying the Walter Reed name. The military calls this "jointness" the services combining their streng ths rather than working separately. "Because jointness is key to creating military value that was our goal, " said Michael Wynne, the Pentagon's technology and weapons-buying chief who oversaw the base review project. Rumsfeld had said before releasing his report that closures would be fewe r than once anticipated, in part because surplus space will be used to a ccommodate tens of thousands of troops scheduled to be brought home from Cold War-era bases in Europe and Asia. And while the number of bases he has asked to be shuttered is only slight ly higher than in previous base-closing rounds dating to 1988, he put fo rth an extraordinary number of other changes and consolidations 775 "m inor closures and realignments" compared with 235 in the four previous r ounds combined. The proposal submitted to Congress and an independent base closing commis sion evoked immediate howls of protest from members of Congress whose st ates stand to lose jobs civilian and military and the Pentagon pledg ed to lend a helping hand to the hardest hit communities.
He called it "cruel and unusual p unishment" of his state, which would suffer a net loss of 7,133 military and 1,041 civilian jobs. Disappointment was also felt far from the corridors of power. In Texarkana, Texas, doughnut shop owner Danny Witt estimated he would lo se $1,000 a month in sales if the Red River Army Depot and Lone Star Arm y Ammunition Plant are closed as proposed. Many of the states that fared well are in the South and Southwest. Georgi a would register a net gain of 8,677 military positions, although it wou ld lose 1,971 civilian jobs, while Texas would gain nearly 9,000 militar y positions, with El Paso and San Antonio acquiring the most. Rumsfeld said he knows some communities will struggle to cope with job lo sses, but he made clear that the nation's security can be assured only i f the military gets stronger. It's a theme Rumsfeld has sounded throughout his tenure at the Pentagon, and he alluded to it in a cover letter to the report to Anthony J Princ ipi, chairman of the base closing commission. "Increasing combat effectiveness and transforming US forces are critica l if our country is to be able to meet tomorrow's national defense chall enges," he wrote. He recommended that a similar base-use review be done every five to 10 years. The chiefs of all the services endorsed Rumsfeld's plan, but it will face intense scrutiny from Principi's panel, which will take public testimon y from Rumsfeld on Monday.
President Bush , who can accept or reject it whole, but not part. Among other highlights of Rumsfeld's plan: _In addition to the 33 major bases that would be closed, another 29 would shrink in size and lose 400 or more jobs. Four of the latter are Navy f acilities in California, including Naval Base Coronado. Wright-Patterson also would obtain the Navy's aero-medical research lab oratory now located at Pensacola, Fla. Its main tenant, the Training and Doctrine Command, would be moved to Fort E ustis, Va.
The informati on contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewr itten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associ ated Press.
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