Troop Transfers May Save Some Domestic Bases President Bush’s plan to bring up to 70,000 U.S. troops home from overseas bases will influence the 2005 round of base closings in the United States. “We’re using the [base realignment and closing] process as the vehicle to come to a decision on what the best place” would be to station those troops, a senior Defense Department official said at an August 16 briefing. In determining where to put the returning troops, he said, “forces need to either be along major transportation routes – that is, air, rail and sea – or can easily get to some of those major transportation hubs.” He explained that part of the rationale for the troop transfers is to create a mobile force that can move quickly to trouble spots. Defense officials said two heavy armored divisions, each with about 15,000 troops, will be withdrawn from Germany. Other major units will come from South Korea. The transfers will take place over a period of up to 10 years. The Defense Department is scheduled to announce its list of domestic bases to be closed or realigned next spring, unless Congress blocks it. The House version of the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill (H.R. 4200) would delay the closings for two years. The Bush administration has threatened a veto if the delay provision is not removed.