Base Realignment and Closure
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Base Realignment and Closure (or BRAC) is a process of the United States federal government directed at the administration and operation of the Armed Forces, used by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and Congress to close excess military installations and realign the total asset inventory to reduce expenditures on operations and maintenance, aimed at achieving increased efficiency in line with Congressional and DoD objectives. More than 350 installations have been closed in four BRAC rounds: 1989, 1991, 1993, and 1995. The most recent round of BRAC completed in the fall of 2005 and with the commission's recommendations became law in November 2005.
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[edit] History
The BRAC process was developed in an attempt to achieve the government's goal of closing and realigning military installations despite the political challenges which often arise when facilities face reduction or elimination. Because a military base can bring millions of dollars in federal money to its locale each year, challenges raised by members of Congress from affected districts make such initiatives difficult. Congress created the BRAC process in 1988 as a politically palatable method to pursue such goals.
[edit] Process
The process began May 13, 2005 when the Secretary of Defense forwarded his recommendations for realignments and closures to the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission. The BRAC is independent nine-member panel appointed by the President. This panel evaluated the list by taking testimony from interested parties and paying visits to affected bases. The BRAC Commission had the opportunity to add bases to the list, and did so in a July 19, 2005 hearing. The Commission met their deadline of September 2005 to provide the evaluated list to the President, who approved the list with the condition that the list could only be approved or disapproved in its entirety. On November 7, 2005 the approved list was then given to Congress which then had the opportunity to disapprove the entire list within 45 days by enacting a resolution of disapproval. This did not happen and the BRAC Commission’s recommendations became final.
[edit] BRAC Rounds
[edit] Past Rounds
[edit] 1988 Commission
- Alabama Ammunition Plant
- Chanute AFB
- Fort Douglas
- Fort Sheridan
- Fort Wingate
- George AFB
- Hamilton Air Force Base
- Jefferson Proving Ground
- Lexington Army Depot
- Mather AFB
- Norton AFB
- Naval Station Galveston
- Naval Station Lake Charles
- Naval Station New York
- Pease AFB
- Presidio of San Francisco
- Leased Space - Alexandria, VA
[edit] 1991 Commission
- Bergstrom AFB (Active Component only)
- Carswell AFB
- Castle AFB
- Chase Field NAS
- Eaker AFB
- England AFB
- Fort Benjamin Harrison
- Fort Devens
- Fort Ord
- Grissom AFB
- Treasure Island NS Hunters Pt Annex
- Lowry AFB
- Loring AFB
- Moffett NAS
- Myrtle Beach AFB
- Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Warminster, PA
- NAV ElecSysEngrCtr
- Naval Station Long Beach
- Naval Station Philadelphia
- Naval Station Puget Sound
- Philadelphia Naval Complex
- Presidio of Monterey
- Richards-Gebaur ARS
- Rickenbacker AGB
- Sacramento Army Depot
- Marine Corps Air Station Tustin
- Williams AFB
- Wurtsmith AFB
[edit] 1993 Commission
The 1993 Commission report included[1]
- Camp Evans - Fort Monmouth
- Cecil Field NAS
- Fort Wingate
- Marine Corps Air Station El Toro
- Homestead AFB
- K.I. Sawyer AFB
- March AFB
- Mare Island Naval Shipyard
- Naval Air Rework Facility (NARF), Alameda
- Naval Air Station Agana
- Naval Air Station Barbers Point
- Naval Air Station Dallas
- Naval Air Station Glenview
- Naval Air Station Alameda
- Naval Aviation Depot Alameda
- Naval Aviation Depot Norfolk
- Naval Aviation Depot Pensacola
- Naval Hospital Charleston
- Naval Hospital Oakland aka Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, Oakland, CA
- Naval Hospital Orlando
- Naval Station Charleston
- Naval Station Mobile
- Naval Station Staten Island
- Naval Station Treasure Island
- Naval Supply Center Oakland, Oakland Naval Supply Center
- Naval Training Center Orlando
- Naval Training Center San Diego
- NESEC, St. Inigoes
- Newark AFB
- O'Hare IAP ARS
- Plattsburgh AFB
- Vint Hill Farms
[edit] 1995 Commission
- Adak NAF
- Bergstrom AFB
- Camp Bonneville
- Castle Air Force Base
- US Army Operations Fitzsimons
- Fort Chafee
- Fort Greely
- Fort Indiantown Gap
- Fort McClellan
- Fort Pickett
- Fort Ritchie
- Letterkenny Army Depot
- McClellan AFB
- Military Ocean Terminal
- Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Indianapolis
- Naval Shipyard, Long Beach
- Naval Supply Center, Oakland, Oakland Naval Supply Center
- NAWC, Aircraft Div., Warminster
- NAWC, Crane Division Detachment
- NSWC, Dahlgren Division Detachment
- Oakland Army Base
- Ontario IAP Air Guard Station
- Red River Army Depot
- Reese AFB
- Roslyn Air Guard Station
- Savanna Army Depot Activity
- Seneca AD
- Sierra Army Depot
- Ship Repair Facility, Guam
- South Weymouth NAS
- Stratford Army Engine Plant
[edit] BRAC 2005
Main article: Base Realignment and Closure, 2005
The Pentagon released its proposed list for BRAC 2005 (see Base Realignment and Closure, 2005) on May 13, 2005 (a date given the moniker "BRAC Friday," a pun on Black Friday). After an extensive series of public hearings, analysis of DoD-supplied supporting data, and solicitation of comments from the public, the list of recommendations was revised by the 9-member Defense Base Closure and Realignments Commission in two days of public markups and votes on individual recommendations (the proceedings were broadcast by C-SPAN and are available for review on the network's website). The Commission submitted its revised list to the President on September 8, 2005. The President approved the list and signalled his approval to Congress on September 15. The House of Representatives took up a joint resolution to disapprove the recommendations on October 26, but the resolution failed to pass. The recommendations were thereby enacted. The Secretary of Defense must implement the recommendations not later than September 15, 2011.
Major facilities slated for closure include:
- Fort McPherson, Georgia
- Fort Gillem, Georgia
- Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut (removed from list August 24, 2005)
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine (removed from list August 26, 2005)
- Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine
- Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota (removed from list August 26, 2005)
- Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico (temporarily removed from closure August 26, 2005, pending review of new mission assignment)
- Fort Monmouth, New Jersey
- Defense Finance and Accounting Service, New York
- Fort Monroe, Virginia
- Willow Grove Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base, Pennsylvania
- Naval Station Ingleside, Texas
- Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts (removed from list August 26, 2005)
- Navy Supply Corps School
Major facilities slated for realignment include these:
- Army Human Resource Command (HRC), Missouri, moving to the Fort Knox Military Installation in Kentucky
- Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
- Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois
- Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia (extent contingent on reopening the former Naval Air Station Cecil Field in Florida)
- Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota
- Eielson Air Force Base and Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
- Rome Laboratory, New York
- Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission - 1993 Report to the President" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. 1993-07-01. http://www.defenselink.mil/brac/docs/1993com2.pdf. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
[edit] External links
- Office of the Secretary of Defense, Base Realignment and Closure
- Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding BRAC
- 1995 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission Report to the President
- BRACLandSales, the Department of the Navy BRAC Disposition Site
