Commission Sifts Proposed Base Closings The chairman of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission says the panel will not “rubber stamp” the Defense Department’s hit list. After hearing from Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and top military brass, BRAC Chairman Anthony Principi told the New York Times, “I expect there will be changes, and I think there’ll be a few additions considered. The last thing this commission will be is a rubber stamp.” The commission begins a round of 16 public hearings across the country next month. (For the schedule, go to www.brac.gov/docs/PressRelease-FINAL_19May2005.pdf.) The Pentagon proposed closing, downsizing or reorganizing more than 800 installations in all 50 states, including 33 major bases. The department says the changes would save nearly $49 billion over 20 years. A vote by five of the nine BRAC commission members can remove a base from the list; it takes seven votes to add one. To take a base off the list, the commission must show the department “deviated substantially” from its guidelines. In past BRAC rounds, about 85% of the Pentagon’s list has been accepted, despite heavy lobbying from the affected communities and their members of Congress. In his testimony before the commission May 16, Rumsfeld said many of the decisions to close or realign individual bases are interdependent. He cautioned members against making piecemeal changes in the list “without considering how that component fits into the larger whole.” The secretary said more DOD personnel may be moved from civilian office buildings to military bases in the future for security reasons. “It’s a different world today than it was previously, and very few instances where leased space will provide the kind of force protection that is considered preferable and desirable,” he told reporters after his testimony. “…So for that reason, it is something that is going to be reviewed over across the country. And it has already been reviewed in some parts of the country, and affected this BRAC.” The department proposes moving more than 23,000 military and civilian personnel from office buildings in close-in suburbs of Washington to Fort Belvoir, VA, and other locations further away from the capital. Some units would be relocated as far away as Oklahoma and Texas. Thousands of contractor personnel support those offices. In justifying those moves, the Pentagon said one of its goals is to disperse its operations so they are less vulnerable to attack. More than two years ago Secretary Rumsfeld said he must personally approve any new construction or leasing of facilities within 100 miles of the capital. After the Pentagon’s list was announced, the House Armed Services Committee turned back two attempts to delay or block the 2005 round of closings and realignments. Sen. John Thune (R-SD), whose state stands to lose Ellsworth Air Force Base, said he would introduce legislation to delay the changes until troops come home from Iraq. The BRAC commission will present its report to President Bush in September. The president and Congress can accept or reject the report in its entirety, but are prohibited by law from adding or removing individual bases.