LarryW
06-20-2017, 06:58
Stand by for BRAC 2018…or maybe 2022…who the hell knows? It's up to Congress. Like leaving it up to Jabba the Hut.
Policy Experts Urge Congress to Back New Round of Base Realignments
WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan group of policy experts issued an open letter Monday urging members of Congress to drop their opposition to what would be the first round of base realignments and closures in more than a decade, saying it could save billions of Pentagon dollars and offset spending on other military needs.
The call comes just weeks after President Donald Trump released his 2018 proposed spending plan that called for a new round of base or facility shutdowns to trim excess overhead. The document urges Congressional approval for a base realignment and closure, or BRAC, in fiscal year 2021.
No BRAC has been enacted since 2005. A new round is currently barred by law, with lawmakers fearing potential economic harm to their communities.
"It is understandable that discussions about closing military facilities can be controversial," said the letter, signed by 45 experts from think tanks including Cato Institute, Center for American Progress, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Center for a New American Security, Brookings Institution and Concerned Veterans for America.
"To be sure, the closing of a military base is disruptive to surrounding communities," it said. "Evidence shows, however, that most communities recover and some do quite rapidly."
The Pentagon has been insistent that another round of BRAC is necessary, and says it will have more than 22 percent excess infrastructure by 2019. The Army carries the greatest excess overhead at 33 percent, and the Air Force has 32 percent, according to a recent Pentagon review. The Navy and Marine Corps overage is at 7 percent.
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 13, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said a "properly focused base closure effort" could generate $2 billion or more annually -- enough, over a five-year period, to buy 300 Apache attack helicopters, 120 F/A-18 Super Hornets or four Virginia-class submarines.
"I recognize the careful deliberation that members must exercise in considering this," Mattis said. "But BRAC is one of the most successful and significant efficiency programs we have."
The letter noted that the surplus projections are not based on military personnel cuts that Trump appears to be reversing, and said that even if Trump builds up personnel to levels he stated during the campaign, the Pentagon will have more overhead than it needs "well into the 2020s."
The biggest obstacle is political will, and the letter's authors say they perceive a melting of hardline posture on the issue. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in January that they were amenable to examining the potential savings of a BRAC round. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, has reintroduced legislation to allow the Pentagon to close excess bases.
(more)
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/06/20/policy-experts-urge-congress-to-back-new-round-base-realignments.html
Policy Experts Urge Congress to Back New Round of Base Realignments
WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan group of policy experts issued an open letter Monday urging members of Congress to drop their opposition to what would be the first round of base realignments and closures in more than a decade, saying it could save billions of Pentagon dollars and offset spending on other military needs.
The call comes just weeks after President Donald Trump released his 2018 proposed spending plan that called for a new round of base or facility shutdowns to trim excess overhead. The document urges Congressional approval for a base realignment and closure, or BRAC, in fiscal year 2021.
No BRAC has been enacted since 2005. A new round is currently barred by law, with lawmakers fearing potential economic harm to their communities.
"It is understandable that discussions about closing military facilities can be controversial," said the letter, signed by 45 experts from think tanks including Cato Institute, Center for American Progress, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Center for a New American Security, Brookings Institution and Concerned Veterans for America.
"To be sure, the closing of a military base is disruptive to surrounding communities," it said. "Evidence shows, however, that most communities recover and some do quite rapidly."
The Pentagon has been insistent that another round of BRAC is necessary, and says it will have more than 22 percent excess infrastructure by 2019. The Army carries the greatest excess overhead at 33 percent, and the Air Force has 32 percent, according to a recent Pentagon review. The Navy and Marine Corps overage is at 7 percent.
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 13, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said a "properly focused base closure effort" could generate $2 billion or more annually -- enough, over a five-year period, to buy 300 Apache attack helicopters, 120 F/A-18 Super Hornets or four Virginia-class submarines.
"I recognize the careful deliberation that members must exercise in considering this," Mattis said. "But BRAC is one of the most successful and significant efficiency programs we have."
The letter noted that the surplus projections are not based on military personnel cuts that Trump appears to be reversing, and said that even if Trump builds up personnel to levels he stated during the campaign, the Pentagon will have more overhead than it needs "well into the 2020s."
The biggest obstacle is political will, and the letter's authors say they perceive a melting of hardline posture on the issue. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in January that they were amenable to examining the potential savings of a BRAC round. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, has reintroduced legislation to allow the Pentagon to close excess bases.
(more)
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/06/20/policy-experts-urge-congress-to-back-new-round-base-realignments.html