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Subscribe to RSSThough Congress has quashed any new round of base closures in its latest funding bill, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Monday called shutting down some excess military installations inevitable as the Pentagon seeks to shed operating costs.
"Now may not be the time for (Base Closure and Realignment Commission) as our economy recovers, but sooner or later, one way or another, the department is going to need to take a hard look at its basing infrastructure as we seek to reduce our overhead costs," Panetta told a meeting of the Association of Defense Communities in Monterey, Calif., according to a report of the speech from National Defense magazine.
Talk of BRAC, which is formed to slash military expenses and make operations more efficient, leads to widespread consternation in many military communities, which fear loss of jobs and trouble planning for roads and other services.
The latest round took place in 2005 and was just completed last fall. It involved closing 24 major installations and consolidating other service-specific bases into joint installations.
In New Jersey, McGuire Air Force Base, Fort Dix and Naval Air Station Lakehurst were combined to form Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. And in Washington state, Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base became Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The joint bases share administrative and support operations.
Panetta had proposed new rounds of BRAC discussions for 2013 and 2015, but the House Armed Services Committee in May voted down funding of such efforts.
Still, Panetta sees base closings and realignments as an important way to cut costs.
“It is a debate we must continue,” Panetta said, according to National Defense. “Based on conservative estimates, the first four rounds of BRAC are producing annual savings of $8 billion, and the comparable figure for the 2005 round is $4 billion.”
Panetta said on Monday that base closures not only save money but provide a way to transfer ownership of government property that can spur private economic development in those communities.
A report by the Government Accountability Office, found that the 2005 BRAC round cost $35.1 billion to execute with net savings not realized until 2018. Previous base closings in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995 were less complex and generated savings more quickly.
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ANY unneeded bases should be closed, both in the U.S. and overseas. We don't have military bases to provide civilian jobs. You cannot get the federal budget under control without cutting jobs.
Cut them at HUD, cut them at Ed, cut them at all the giveaway departments. Shore up defense.
It's about time.
Yes lets bring all of these troops home and put more people on the unemployment line. It sure isn't going to create jobs by closing military bases. I guess you will say they are guaranted their old job back, because they were in the military. What about the people they hired to take their place while they were in the military. They will be out of a job.
They got these bases in these other countries for a purpose, to protect you from and invasion or nuclear strike
The Navy base in Groton, CT is a prime candidate for closure. The locals hate the military, and the costs of doing business there is ridiculous compared to Virginia or Georgia, where other submarines are based at.
Nope, that overbearing assh*le Joe Lieberman decided that letting his state fleece the military and it's members was too important.
We the people need to see the trends and act before the worst happens.
It is clear that what the industrialists and the like are into turning us into a low wage society, or what I call The Neo Third World. They are done with us as we have wasted our resources, allowed the country to go against its promise to not deal with slave labor countries where they don't have to pay as much knowing that will benefit them, not us.
Everytime we buy cheap stuff from the likes of Walmart, we go against our best interests. It would be better to pay a bit more so the wealth is spread around in the USA maintaining a middle class and Americanism. Think about it. If we pay a dollar more fora ten dollar item made in the USA, that extra dollar will allow more people to buy American and keep our businesses alive so that the benefits come around and back to us. Anything we buy made in China only helps some impoters and outlets while the middle class gets screwed.
Why are we buying cars from South Korea and destroying our auto based economy. Better to pay 22, 000 dollars for an equivalent American car than 19,000 for a South Korean vehicle.
Our trade policies only help the very rich that are no longer real Americans but Internationalists.
It would take me far too long to set out all the math but even keeping it simple we can all clearly see the negative outcome we get from catering to the few that frankly don't give a crap since they can live in other parts of the world like spoiled royalty while Joe SixPack gets screwed.
I gotta say, a vote for Romney is a vote for China and India, etc.
You do realize that the Honda and Toyota cars are manufactured here in the USA, and are built by American workers. The difference is that the corporations' headquarters is in Japan. Those cars are more American then you may think, however, when you look at the GM and Chrysler vehicles, names we assume are American, they are manufactured outside the USA by foreign workers. In fact with regard to Chrysler the majority share holder is Italy's FIAT car company.
Just because it has a known American name doesn't mean it's an American corporation and just because it seems foreign doesn't mean it not American. Perceptions of reality and reality are not always the same thing.
Think about it...
You cannot petition the US Government with common sense. They will label you a racist.
Folks we are out of control. We have over 10,000 Abrams tanks at 25+ million each. For what? Does anyone really think that we will be in a war with a tank battle that large. What a waste.
How do we get those tanks in a post-atomic world where production is impossible and, if we still can fight, we must fight with what's on hand? The only way is to make large numbers of them and disperse them so that many will be unscathed. Same as with any complex military asset. Defense and war is expensive. Losing is however, cheap and easy. Churchill's words: "Nothing succeeds like excess!"
Tom that is the guise. Lets make us afraid of somebody. If you notice our government will always find some nation to fear. We can destroy the world a thousand times over. How much is enough 2,3,10 thousand times over? Isn't it amazing how nations like Sweden mind their own business and prosper while we continue our downward spiral.
Bases are like life jackets on vessels. They are expensive, they require maintenance and upgrading, many are aggravated when they are forced to get involved with them. But they are indispensable in the situations they were designed to manage. Ships and airplanes must have a series of secure, well equipped bases separated by geography or else you simply don't have the means to protect your own security.
Groton is vital to the Navy because it brings submarines days closer to places they may be sent in times of travail. Also, having just 2 sub bases on the East coast is a bad strategic arrangement. Four would be better. If we are not play-acting about external security, we'd better expect to pay for it.
Where is the money to come from? The main responsibility of the Fed is national defense. Let the money come from social programs that are little more than bribes to the indolent.
How many people remember Reagan's "peace benefits?" We had to spend the money to bail out the S&L after Reagan and congress eased banking regulation.
Even the dim-witted hacks in Washington should see the benefits of closing down overseas assets and keeping as many open here as humanly possible.
Seems to be a true agreement on every side that if we have to cut (and we have to cut), it should be overseas.
Especially Europe.
There is monumental waste at every instillation,US or overseas.Never seen anything like it in my life.Bring 'em home and shut 'em down.
"Future military base closures inevitable"
Best news in a long time.
Pull up them bootstraps.
(really can not see military spending going down EVER, believe it when you see it)
All you left wingers , the destruction of America is coming your way soon, and this is just the beginning of Obama's policy to get his country working again, at the same time there hasn't been any cuts to social services, welfare in fact there has been a 40% increase , Obama's work permits for 3.2 million illegals, while 15% of American's are unemployed ,will cost you 585 billion to implement, add that to the 126 billion a year to host these criminals.
I hope American's see what's happening , esp. in those swing states, this election is a make or break America and four more years of Obama will break this country.
Real brainy, you shut down military bases you shut down the ECONOMY just where are these ignorant screw loose congress men and women going to take us to be buried.
Most of the bases that are no longer needed at the present time should be deactivated and not closed, they could at least be used as Bare Bases if needed in times of need. Many of these facilities have rail heads, runways, and good roads that would be of great use if we ever needed them. If it was up to me I would also tear down almost all of the family housing, I know of one base that closed in the 1970s and they did not do this and to this day they have problems with vandalism, theft, and other criminal mischief from low rent riff-raff. These facilities could be used for many other events besides war such as build up of supplies and personnel for huricanes, floods, earthquakes, and evacuation as well.
These pr!ckheads better start closing foreign bases before they touch a single U.S. soil base or I for one will be one pissed off citizen - Fk the world, we need U.S. jobs. I got a good win win scenario close all the foreign bases and invest in U.S. manufacturing of more intercontinental balistic nuclear weapons.
The Military is not a jobs program nor economic assistance. Those are side benefits from having a base in any particular location.
The Military has objectives given to them by the President and Congress, they analyze those objectives and create smaller objectives to reach the big ones. Those are then filtered through the Defense Department to the branch chiefs. Senators like to get involved to try to sway one decision or another, which is bad business but unavoidable in politics.
The based that should be closed are the ones that are either not needed or that could be done cheaper at another location. The BRAC in 2005 got most of those though, don't expect many states side bases to be closed. I do see some in Europe and maybe one or two in Japan being closed. Korea has already closed dozens of bases and consolidated, there are plans on the table to further consolidate into the CP Humphreys / Osan area. Then you have multi-camp installations which are confusing. In Deagu there are four military installations, CP Walker, CP Hengry, CP George an K2 airbase. Their all in the middle of the city and are linked together and treated as the "Daegu Enclave", you can't close any of them because their all three full. K2 itself is actually a shared airbase with the ROK Airforce and also used as a civilian airport.
The things you learn.
The military are already downsizing by selectively going through rosters and cutting people who have enough retirement points to qualify them, by shoving out injured soldiers and insisting that the injuries were not the militarys fault.
I was one of them that was cut last year and even with 31 years as an aircraft mech. there are no civilian jobs that pay more them 10-12 dollars an hour and even the lower paying ones are few and far between
So by down sizing the military you will just be adding to unemployment and welfare roles so these men and women who have defended you can survive
But, but....GWBush just opened seventeen military bases in Colombia.........
I was one of the last military personnel to leave the Presidio of San Francisco in 1995. I was an Army Nurse, a Captain. Instead of pursuing a career, I just got out and stayed in the Bay Area. I still makes me sad when I drive there and see it as a park. Base closures suck, but I know they're necessary.
Maybe we need to take some of those overseas forces and post them along the border with mexico, and start patrolling vs. drug runners and illegal immigration.
Republicans don't want to cut military, then maybe it's time we redeployed our forces to home.
In the old days, like Korea, we needed troops stationed near hot spots because it took forever to move our troops. Things have changed with modern communications and our ability to move troops quickly.
Most of the nations where we have stationed troops to cover their asses have managed to make a killing on what they charge us to protect them. We do not need a WW II type of standing military as the whole nature of war has changed. America is going broke maintaining a large military, carrying the big stick in the world has become a luxury.
We need to set our priorities for our nation. America can no longer afford to protect the world from all threats. It would be nice if other nations pitched in more and we less and that has only happened once that I know of, Kuwait.
England and Rome are a few examples of countries with large military costs that eventually broke them. America will end up the same way.
Money spent on bases in the USA recirculates through the U.S. economy. Money spent on foreign bases leaves the U.S. economy.
Work pretty well in WW2. In fact, the ones overseas became POWs. Next.........!
These oversea bases have been draining this country for years, all for a shadow empire we deny having. If we keep them then let us declare ourselves an empire and vote in an emperor ....I nominate David Hasselhoff ! Bring our all our stuff back home, fortify our land and if anybody brings war to us wipe them out and fellow them home to punish them some more
If overseas bases are good why is it that non of our allies have bases in the US?