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More than 18,000 Defense Department civilians will see their jobs eliminated or contracted out as part of the Pentagon's recommendations for closing and realigning military bases.

"Our current arrangements, designed for the Cold War, must give way to the new demands of the war against extremism and other threats of the 21st century," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a prepared statement Friday.

The Pentagon wants to close 33 major bases, realign 22 more and make hundreds of other changes at smaller bases. Those recommendations will be reviewed by an the independent Base Realignment and Closure Commission this summer, which will then prepare a final list for President Bush by Sept. 8. The president has until Sept. 23 to accept or reject the list before sending it to Congress, which has 45 legislative days to reject it or the recommendations become law.

The Defense Department's moves will affect 133,769 military jobs and 84,801 civilian positions at hundreds of installations nationwide. Of those jobs, 122,987 military and 66,578 civilian jobs will move to other bases, while 10,722 military jobs and 18,223 civilian jobs will be eliminated or turned over to private contractors. The Pentagon estimates its base closing recommendations will require hiring 2,818 additional contractors.

Like past base closing rounds, the Defense Department will offer civilian employees at affected bases a variety of career options, among them moving to a new base, being placed on a priority list for other jobs in the area, and incentives to take early retirement. Defense has established a Web site that details assistance offered to its displaced civilians.

The largest relocation of civilian jobs will occur in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, where thousands of Defense civilians work in leased office space. Nearly 23,000 Defense jobs, including 15,754 civilian positions, will move to more secure space at military installations, including thousands to nearby military bases, among them Fort Belvoir, Va. and Fort Meade, Md. Fort Belvoir stands to gain 5,729 civilian jobs and Fort Meade will add 2,915 civilians.

A recent George Mason University survey found that more than 40,000 Defense workers are in leased space that does not meet homeland security requirements. Rumsfeld said moving them to to military bases would guarantee those security standards are met.

Some civilians moving to Fort Belvoir will take spots now occupied by 816 civilian and 75 military personnel, who make up Army Materiel Command headquarters. The command is being relocated to Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, a largely civilian defense agency that processes employee payroll and payments to contractors, will be relocated and consolidated from more than 20 locations into three large facilites.

Military industrial facilites also will see major changes under the Pentagon's plan. Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas, with 2,491 civilians, will be closed and much of that work will go to other depot facilities, including Anniston Army Depot, Ala., and Letterkenny Army Depot, Pa.

Also, the Navy will close Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, where 4,032 civilians overhaul submarines, and move most of that work to its three remaining shipyards in Virginia, Hawaii and Washington.

Other major closings and realignments for civilians include:

• Closing the Army's Communications and Electronics Command at Fort Monmouth, N.J. (4,652 civilians)
• Closing Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe, Va. (1,948 civilians)
• Closing the Army's Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington and building a joint health care facility in Bethesda, Md. (2,357 civilians)
• Closing Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas (1,268 civilians)

The states losing the most civilian jobs are: Virginia (8,843), Maine (4,139), New Jersey (3,713) and Texas (3,175). Those gaining the most civilian jobs are: Maryland (9,012), Indiana (2,641), Alabama (2,018) and Kentucky (1,482).

COMMENTS

• In reference to Red River Army Depot which employs approx 2,500 civilians. What about the other 2,500 government employees who work at the RRAD defense complex for agencies of DOD other than Army? Defense Logistics Agency, contractors, Lonestar Army Ammunition Plant, and McAllister Army Ammunition Plant all are tenants of the RRAD defense complex. A TOTAL OF NEARLY 5,500 EMPLOYEES supporting the troops. This type of reporting clouds the issues and misrepresents the facts. We are all told our work is superb, outstanding, some of the best.....BUT...that is just not enough. GovExec.com reader Posted May 26, 2005 2:39 PM
• As one who was caught in BRAC 1993, I can attest to the fact that there is no logic in the moves proposed. It does come down to pure politics. The best commands, the most environmentally clean are expendable. I agree with many of the comments from Corpus Christi and others regarding the additional chaos that will be experienced in organizations and peoples lives by implementing the NSPS along with the BRAC. This seems to me to be a clever ruse to quickly and without due process get rid of DoD employees. Many of us have commented on this very issue regarding the NSPS and RIF procedures as proposed under the NSPS. It is not a fair process. Those who are to be retained based on their performance rating, and then their veterans preference standing will not be treated fairly. NSPS performance assessment is based on management's subject assessment of the employees behavior. Additionally, these finite details of challenging any unfair performance assessment are not contained in the proposed NSPS regulation. It states that a labor relations board is to be created, this being only one of issues that are not clearly defined in the NSPS proposed regulation, and deferred to the still undefined DoD implementing policy and regulation. DoD plans seem to be too aggressive To think that their planners can continue the war in IRAQ, perform BRAC 2005 strategic alignment, and overhaul the DoD personnel system all with limited budgets, serves to undermine the sustaining structure in place. Lofty goals, probably created by some independent think tank! BRAC is very disruptive to individuals lives and families. When one has to move their whole family away from their community, human instinct kicks in with the fear factor. Family's who make the move often experience long separations from their love ones. When they do unite, the emotional scars are often so devastating that children turn in to juvenile delinquents, and divorce rates rise. Personal behavior is all around is altered when faced with these tough decisions. More often than not, the individual who has relocated is not accepted in the new organization. The good old boy system does not readily accept foreigners. NSPS management training will not change cultural molds. GovExec.com reader Posted May 19, 2005 11:04 AM
• I hope that all the wanna-be Republicans are happy now. George Bush and clan have done exactly what they said they would do. They are cutting your Government job and your paycheck. They are taking your standard of living away so the rich can get a bigger dividend on their stock. This is a purely political move if you analyze it. Most of the big BRAC 2005 hits were in Democrat states with a junior member of congress as the representative.(No resistance) Or for more vindictive reasons in the northeast (John Kerry's state). I think the Republicans have been masterful. You have to take your hat off to them. They have managed to get the middle-class, and working poor to vote themselves out of their jobs, standard of living and affordable health care so the rich can have bigger boats and fly to Cancun every week. Bravo Karl Rove. Unfortunately, as a liberal Democrat I have to live with this stupidity. Registered Democrats out number registered Republicans 3 to 1 and we (The Democrats) chose to re-elect Bush. Incredible! There is one big difference between a true Democrat and a wannabe Republican and that is - I believed my grandparents when they told me about hard times and living without during the Depression. Obviously the wannabes did not. Well boys and girls, you're about to get a financial education that you will not soon forget. And for all you Dems that voted for him I say "I Told you so." Gosh that felt good. GovExec.com reader Posted May 17, 2005 6:20 AM