The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia) August 24, 2004
Post Could House More Troops
By Jeremy Craig; Staff Writer
Fort Gordon could stand to gain troops if all goes well with the president's plan to pull some troops out of Europe and Asia, officials said.
But the area won't know for sure until after the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure round.
"We're talking about a six- to 10-year process," said Thom Tuckey, former garrison commander at Fort Gordon and adviser to the CSRA Alliance for Fort Gordon, a group working to save the post from being closed.
President Bush announced plans last week to pull about 70,000 troops from bases in Europe and Asia as part of a shift of troops from their Cold War-era stationing. The announced plan is separate from the BRAC process, which affects only domestic bases.
Those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will have to go somewhere, and many will have new permanent stations back in the United States, said John Pike, the director of GlobalSecurity.org, which provides military analysis and information.
Mr. Tuckey said Fort Gordon has the space to handle additional troops.
However, there are limitations. For example, he said the post would not be a likely candidate for units that require large areas to maneuver, such as tank units.
Mr. Pike said brigades with similar functions already at a certain post would be likely to be placed at the post.
"What we're trying to do is posture ourselves for the addition of units similar to those that we already have," Mr. Tuckey said.
Other signal and military intelligence units or headquarters-type units would be well suited at Fort Gordon, he said.
Mr. Tuckey said any announcement of a unit's movement to Fort Gordon from Europe or Asia would be made after the BRAC.
"We could easily handle several thousand more members," he said, "and we think the community, given enough notice to look at where additional schools and housing might be required, could absorb that."
Georgia's other large posts also could have new troops stationed as a result of the plan.
Fort Stewart and Fort Ben-ning, the largest of Georgia's Army posts, could see more troops as part of the shift, said Philip Y. Browning Jr., the executive director of the Georgia Military Affairs Coordinating Committee.
"We have huge bases here with some capacity to expand," Mr. Browning said.
© Copyright 2004, Southeastern Newspapers Corporation
