Having lived on or near Air Force installations all my life, the term “BRAC” (short for “Base Realignment and Closure”) leaves the same impression upon my tender psyche as does the term “Recycled Toilet Paper.” [shiver]
All military services are making some serious decisions in light of current (and down-the-road) spending cuts imposed by the Obama administration. Panetta has pointed out that the Air Force piece of this puzzle will include:
- Eliminating six of its 60 tactical air squadrons, as well as one training squadron.
- Terminating the RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 30 remotely piloted aircraft program.
- Retiring 133 mobility aircraft (27 C-5As, 65 C-130s, 20 KC-135s, and 21 C-27s), leaving a strategic airlift fleet of 52 C-5Ms and 222 C-17s.
- Making balanced reductions in the Air National Guard, consistent with reductions in the active duty Air Force and Air Force Reserve.
Here’s the bottom line on BRAC [shiver] and the Air Force…Since 2005, the Air Force has retired 500 aircraft, and has 25,000 less personnel on active duty. It intends to cut another 10,000 across the total force over the next five years, and (as we saw above) retire more aircraft. According to the Air Force, it had about 20 percent more infrastructure than it needed during the 2005 BRAC round, where no bases were actually closed. Instead units and missions realigned to best-utilize the existing infrastructure and trim staff. Accordingly, it is safe to say there is excess infrastructure that should be cut today.
From the DoD perspective, a major concern in closing installations are the immediate costs associated with moving units, personnel and their families; amicably concluding contractual agreements; environmental clean-up; and the unavoidable legal issues. Over time, however, these costs are mitigated by not having to support the tremendous expenses associated with maintaining and continually modernizing these small cities.
Local communities are always fearful of losing a military base, due to the on-base/post/station employment opportunities and the income the installation generates for local businesses, contractors and schools. Contrary to popular opinion, all hope is not lost.
If a community is parked next to an installation with a thriving mission, and the community has (or can make) allowances that will allow the installation and its mission to grow, DoD will have no desire to move from that location. On the other hand…if a community has overgrown the installation, or made no allowances for an installation’s mission to thrive or grow, it is time to plan what to do with the facilities when DoD closes the gates.
Fortunately, except in rare cases, communities that have suffered an installation loss due to BRAC action have recovered and actually benefited from the event by attracting commercial enterprises that can utilize the infrastructure (buildings, roadways, housing, hangers, runways, green areas, gymnasiums, swimming pools, golf courses, bowling alleys, etc.) left behind.
Bottom line…in this time of severe budget constraints, we have to make every dollar count. We need a military that is efficient as well as effective. The Air Force, simply put, has excess facilities…and needs to modernize its forces. Let’s let the Air Force roll up its sleeves and get to work preserving and modernizing an air arm that will continue to be second to none on any objective scale.
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