Base Realignment, Closure becomes law
November 10, 2005
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Nov. 10, 2005) - The Base Realignment and Closure Commission's recommendations for reshaping the Defense Department's infrastructure officially took effect at 12:01 a.m. Nov. 9 after Congress allowed them to pass into law.
The nine-member BRAC panel delivered its final report to President Bush Sept. 8, and he, in turn, sent it to Congress for legislative review Sept. 15. Congress had 45 legislative days, until Nov. 9, to accept or reject the report in its entirety. Congress was not authorized to make any changes.
By statute, the Defense Department now has until Sept. 15, 2007 -- two years from the date President Bush sent Congress the BRAC commission's final report -- to begin closing and realigning the installations as called for in the report. The process must be completed by Sept. 15, 2011, DoD officials explained.
The 2005 BRAC recommendations represent the most aggressive BRAC ever proposed, affecting more than 800 installations, officials said.
The Army will close 12 major installations over the next six years under the plan, and close or realign hundreds of small installations, including Army Reserve and National Guard facilities.
Major Army installations slated for closure are:
• Fort Monroe, Va.;
• Fort McPherson, Ga.;
• Fort Gillem, Ga.;
• Fort Monmouth, N.J.;
• Newport Chemical Depot, Ind.;
• Kansas Army Ammunition Plant, Kan.;
• Selfridge Army Activity, Mich.;
• Mississippi Army Ammunition Plant;
• Umatilla Chemical Depot, Ore.;
• Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, Texas;
• Deseret Chemical Depot, Utah;
• Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant, Calif.;
The final BRAC report included six major realignments for the Army:
• Walter Reed Army Medical Center will relocate its specialty care to Bethesda. Its primary and secondary care will move to Fort Belvoir, Va.
• Rock Island Arsenal, Ill., will gain First U.S. Army headquarters but relocate offices from the Tank and Automotive Command, NETCOM, Installation Management Agency and Defense Finance and Accounting Service.
• Fort Knox, Ky., will relocate its Armor School and Center to Fort Benning, Ga., but activate a new infantry brigade and gain units from overseas.
• Human Resources Command – St. Louis, Mo., will relocate some HR activities.
• Fort Eustis, Va., will gain the Training and Doctrine Command headquarters and IMA-Northeast.
• Red River Army Depot, Texas, will relocate some functions to McAllister Army Ammunition Plant, Okla., and other depots.
In addition to closing and realigning installations, BRAC will close many Army Reserve centers and National Guard armories, replacing them with new multi-component armed forces reserve centers.
The Army Reserve Command will also disestablish its 10 Regional Readiness Commands and stand up four Regional Readiness Sustainment Commands, six sustainment brigades and two maneuver enhancement brigades. The Regional Readiness Sustainment Commands will be located at:
• Fort Dix, N.J.
• Fort Jackson, S.C.
• Fort McCoy, Wis.
• Moffett Field, Calif.
“The Guard and Reserve are increasingly important to (a) one-Army concept,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker told the Base Realignment and Closure commission during testimony in May. “What we’re doing is taking overstructure out of the Guard and Reserve and making them into whole units.”
The national military defense strategy adds 34 brigades to the National Guard and Reserve, and 10 to the active component, Schoomaker told the commission.
“The recommendations of BRAC 2005 will holistically transform the current infrastructure into a streamlined portfolio of installations with an 11-percent increase in military value which, thereby, enables the operational Army to better meet the challenges of the 21st-century security environment,” Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey told the commission.
DoD's Office of Economic Adjustment will take the lead for the federal government in helping communities affected by base closures and realignments, officials said, working cooperatively with the President's Economic Adjustment Committee.
A community conference, to be held in Baltimore Nov. 28 through Dec. 1, will focus on many of the issues involved in BRAC 2005 and the programs available to address them.
(Editor’s note: An article by Donna Miles of the American Forces Press Service contributed significantly to this report. Other information came from the Final DoD BRAC Report and an ARNEWS article filed May 18 by Eric Cramer.)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
