The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission has completed its review of a Pentagon proposal to close or realign military facilities in the United States. While the commission rejected the Pentagon’s recommendations in some high-profile cases, the changes had little effect on North Carolina.
The BRAC’s staff spent the three months since the May 13 release of the list reviewing the Pentagon’s recommendations. The commission also conducted public hearings and sought comments from communities affected by proposed base closures or realignments.
In cases where the staff determined that the recommendations were consistent with the BRAC criteria of increasing military value and saving the Pentagon money, the commission summarily approved the recommendations. For example, the commission quickly approved closing certain Army National Guard armories, including one in Asheville, in large part because state guard commanders had signed off on the changes.
A proposal to build regional inter-service military prisons was also accepted without discussion by the commission. The facility for the mid-Atlantic region would be outside Norfolk. Camp LeJeune would lose more than 200 jobs when its prison closes.
One of the big-dollar savers for the Navy was to restructure how and where it overhauls its planes. The proposal, which would eliminate more than 600 jobs at Cherry Point, was accepted by the commission with a minor revision.
Similarly, the BRAC approved a change to how the military runs its health-care system at several bases. The Pentagon argued that its doctors at smaller bases can’t keep their skills sharp because they don’t see a wide enough variety of cases. To address this, the Defense Department recommended that seven smaller military hospitals, including the one at Cherry Point, be downgraded to clinics with inpatient procedures being performed by civilian doctors at nearby hospitals. The commission accepted the recommendation for five bases, including Cherry Point, and modified it for two others.
Probably the least-expected Pentagon recommendation was to have Fayetteville’s Ft. Bragg essentially take over neighboring Pope Air Force Base. Under the proposal, a brigade of troops returning from Europe and two headquarters based in Atlanta would move to Fayetteville while a Special Force unit would move to Florida. To make room, Pope would lose about two-thirds of its flying units. The two squadrons of A-10 ground attack aircraft would move to Moody Air Force Base in Georgia. The active-duty C-130s cargo planes currently at Pope would move to Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. with a smaller Air Force Reserve C-130 moving in its place. The BRAC slightly modified the recommendation by providing that additional Air Force command and control elements remain at Pope to help manage Ft.Bragg’s extensive airlift needs.
Among the most controversial issues of this year’s BRAC round was the basing of Air National Guard aircraft. The Pentagon favored having fewer but larger ANG units. When combined with having fewer aircraft available in the out years, this meant that many Air Guard units would be without planes. The North Carolina Air National Guard in Charlotte would have been a winner under the Pentagon’s proposal, increasing in size from eight to 12 C-130s with a modest increase in personnel. The commission, however, created its own inventory of aircraft; Charlotte ended up with 10 planes.
The commission did reject one recommendation that significantly affected the state. The Pentagon suggested moving the program managers that oversee the military’s external research programs together at a military base in Bethesda, Md. They are currently located at seven sites, six in the Washington, DC area plus the Army Research Office, Durham. The Durham office employs 122. The commission, however, found that moving the offices to a military base was not appropriate and voted down the proposal.
Michael Lowrey is associate editor of Carolina Journal.