Air Force might keep bases open after personnel moves
Members of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission aired concerns Tuesday that Pentagon recommendations to keep open drastically stripped-down Air Force bases could devastate local economies.
If the military does not technically shutter the facilities, the bases would be a "drain on host communities," blocking them from redeveloping the land for commercial purposes, BRAC Chairman Anthony Principi said during a public hearing Tuesday.
The military would have to spend Defense dollars "just to keep [the bases] warm," he added. Former Army Gen. James Hill likewise noted that it might be "better for these communities to close so [they] can begin to retool it, make something out of it."
Top service officials responded that several of the scaled-down facilities, including Alaska's Eielson Air Force Base and North Dakota's Grand Forks Air Force Base, would remain up and running largely for tests and training exercises, despite the loss of thousands of military and civilian personnel. The 5,500-acre North Dakota base, for instance, is ideal for unmanned aerial vehicle training flights because of a lack of competing commercial traffic.
Eielson, too, will host large-scale training exercises, officials said.
Hangars at these installations can accommodate guest squadrons, providing the service with a more robust exercise capability, said Air Force Chief of Staff John Jumper.
Air Force officials assured commissioners that in many cases where a base is not technically closed, the service will turn over land -- including some airfields -- to surrounding communities.
"We are bringing back the fence line to be able to cede real property," said acting Air Force Secretary Michael Dominguez.
In addition to serving as training sites, the bases provide the Air Force with a "hedging strategy" if missions or force structure change dramatically, Dominguez said.
Tuesday's BRAC hearing focused on Air Force facilities, and members analyzed Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's list of basing recommendations released Friday, which includes 10 Air Force bases slated for closure and another 62 targeted for realignment. With personnel and equipment moving from one base to another, the list affects 115 of the 154 Air Force installations. If the recommendations are implemented, the Air Force expects to save more than $2.6 billion in personnel and infrastructure through 2011, and another $1.2 billion each year after that.
The commission has less than four months to evaluate the secretary's recommendations and submit its list to the White House by Sept. 8.
Commissioners still are waiting for the Pentagon to send thousands of pages of documents detailing the decisions and the reasoning behind them. The commission expected to see the documents Friday, though the Pentagon held them back because of concerns about classified information. Commissioners grilled Rumsfeld and other Pentagon leaders on the lack of information Monday and brought the matter up again during today's hearing. The commission will have the information by the end of the week, Pentagon officials said.
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