Defense expects a 'global' round of base closings in 2005

The Defense Department will announce within the next 90 days a realigning of forces overseas that will have a major impact on which bases in the United States will be marked for closure in 2005, according to Raymond Dubois, deputy undersecretary of Defense for installations and environment.

Dubois told the House Appropriations Military Construction Subcommittee on Thursday that the 2005 round of military base realignment and closures (BRAC) would be a "global BRAC." He reiterated his position that this round of base closings could be larger than previous ones held in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995.

In those four rounds, about 20 percent of domestic military bases were closed or realigned for a savings of $17 billion. An additional $7 billion have been saved each year since 2001 in reduced operating costs.

Dubois also said that the Defense Department has finalized its criteria for selecting bases to close or realign. As expected, the criteria give the most weight to military value. The criteria were published in Thursday's Federal Register and were unchanged from a draft version proposed in December.

Dubois stressed that the upcoming round of closures will not be simply about saving money, but also aligning the military's more than 400 bases with its new force structure.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has pushed for a sweeping transformation of the military services' structure and operations. Dubois said bases should be designed to support that vision of transformation, which will require more joint and multimission installations.

The ongoing review of overseas bases will have a major impact on forces based stateside. For example, Dubois said, the Army might bring a division, about 10,000 soldiers, home from Germany, and the service would then decide where to base them in the U.S.

Like previous BRAC rounds, the Pentagon will draw up a list of bases to close, and hand it off to an independent, nine-member commission, appointed by lawmakers and the White House, that will come up with a final version. That list must then be approved or rejected in its entirety by Congress and the president.

Dubois said the 2005 plan has several changes from past BRAC rounds, including: having nine commission members rather than eight to prevent tie votes; relying on a 20-year force structure plan instead of a six-year plan for deciding which bases are needed; and creating joint working groups work groups at the Pentagon to consider where services may consolidate common functions. Some areas being examined for consolidation are: intelligence, research and development laboratories, training, and depot operations.

Several lawmakers on the subcommittee peppered Dubois with questions about their bases and what could be done to save them. Dubois said he regularly receives reports from communities about how much they value their bases, but he added lawmakers are often the best spokespeople for their communities.

Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said the Defense Department also should consider nonmilitary tenants on bases, such as other federal agencies, that lease space from the armed services. Dubois said that issue would be factored in.