Why is YOUR Base Most Important?

Published on May 17, 2005 By Gideon MacLeish In Politics

In the wake of the recent announcement of proposed base closings, we see one of the biggest obstacles to federal cost cutting. That is, almost everyone's in favor of cost cutting...until it hits a program or service that affects them directly.

Every base on the list could argue reasons for staying open. All of those reasons would be compelling. And while I personally sympathize with these people and the lost jobs that will result from base closings, we have to see the best interests of ALL Americans as more pressing than the interests of SOME. And reducing the size of the federal government IS in all of our best interests.

The weeks and months to follow will bring about a flood of protests from communities and states hit by base closures and realignments. Likely news shows will cover stories of communities who fear they can't survive without the military bases. And these shows will be designed to provoke a sense of outrage at the Bush administration for hurting these poor Americans' economies.

But whether to fall for it or not is up to you. I hope you will put objectivity and reason ahead of emotion in the weeks and months to come, and realize that this probably is in the country's best interests.

Comments

ParaTed2k

on May 17, 2005

Well, I don't live in a military town anymore, but I know one thing... The day they close "My base" well, it is way past time for worrying. If they ever even hint of closing down Ft. Bragg NC.... it's over. ;~D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
People in military towns worry about their Base, Post, Port, Air Station and Depot closing as much as people worry about the major factories in their area moving overseas. The result is the same. BRAC started out like as nothing more than an organization aimed at closing bases that weren't needed any more. What happened is the same old story. Instead of taking serious looks at realigning the force structure, politics reared its ugly head. Now all we have is a means by which one government entity can wield power over other entities. "Piss us off, we'll close your base..."

Then there is the problem of the Air and Army National Guards. They are supposed to be State assets, so how can the fed come in and close them? I mean, sure, the fed has every authority to cut DoD funding or Active Duty operations on that base, but they are state property, run by the National Guards of the state they're in.

This is a good article, it will be interesting to read what people have to say.

Dr Guy

on May 17, 2005

That is why Congress created BRAC. Because each Senator and Representative would protect their own turf. This way, all they can do is vote it up or down.

It is basically taking hard decisions away from the people paid to make them, and giving it to a faceless commission.

drmiler

on May 17, 2005

This is a good article. Ted2K raises a VERY valid point! The air and army National Guard bases ARE state assets. What the hell is Uncle Sam doing mucking around with them? We shouldn't need our senators or reps to protect "those" bases!

dharmagrl

on May 17, 2005

The base I was last at is on the list. I thought whilst I was there that it needed to close, and I still think that. It's a single mission base; it's there because there are B1's housed there. That's it's only purpose. It used to be a nuke base; there are still Minuteman missle silos that are open to the public but then those went away in the early 90's so did a large chunk of the base population. Ellsworth, as I said, serves one purpose anymore, and realigning the planes and personnel to another base would make much more sense.

As for the base I'm at now...well, this is a headquarters base. Two large commands are here; TransCom and AMC. This place isn't going to go anywhere anytime soon.

As for the political aspect of things...yeah, I know that bases are used as pawns in the political game. Former Senator Daschle would have South Dakotans believe that had he been re-elected, Ellsworth wouldn't have been on the BRAC list. I don't know if believe that or not...I'm inclined not to, but.....

Zoomba

on May 17, 2005

The question I have, is what's going to happen to the mountain of cash saved by closing those bases? In another thread we were talking about government spending and how it always increases to fill the available funds. So we cut on these bases, what program then is going to swell with newfound cash? This is the US Govt we're talking about here, saving money doesn't really mean saving money, we're just shifting it around.

ParaTed2k

on May 17, 2005

The question I have, is what's going to happen to the mountain of cash saved by closing those bases?

I'd be all for them raising the disability and pensions for retired NCOs... ;~D

Dr Guy

on May 17, 2005

raising the disability ......for retired NCOs

Why? Are they not disabled enough already?

-----

on May 17, 2005

The air base in my hometown,kingsley airfield/base (klamath falls) is one of only two f-15 trainin bases in the US, the other one is back east, also, underneath it are nuke cilos, and there still are about 6-8 nuke capable missles in them, also it is 1 of 3 main bases on the west coast, also, it is the (when the president is this side of the rockies) 3rd in line to house the president and his plane if the other 2 are hit....

Lee1776

on May 17, 2005

I don't think he would have stopped the Ellsworth closing. Because here in Sen. Ried country, one of his Air National Guard Bases are losing 6 C-130s and an ammo depot not far from his hometown. If the present Senate Minority leader (and past Defense Budget auditor) can't prevent these closers then Daschle would have not been able to.

latour999

on May 19, 2005

It's simply reverse NIMBY. There are certain things that everyone wants, just not in their backyard (like a new maximum security prison). There are also certain things no one wants, unless they are in their backyard (such as a costly military base that doesn't do much more than burn taxpayer money)

Lee1776

on May 19, 2005

The Hawthorn Ammo depot in Central Nevada is on the chopping block. Their will be 200 jobs lost when the place closes.

Here is the sob song; Other then having the only gas station and Casino on Route 395 with a 70 miles, between Reno and Las Vegas, there is really no other employer.

The town will dry up and blow away. IMO, with the growth of other industries in Nevada, the buildings will quickly be snatched up cheap. Also with an eager work force at hand, the area will be even more productive then before.

So why keep the place open?

The end cost to the US Government. The depot produces and supports the Pacific Fleet out of San Diego, Nellis Air Force Base, Fallon Air Station (Home to the Top Gun School), and the large number of other test ranges in Nevada. These installations use up more munitions then all the other bases located within the Untied States combined. Even out stripping Fort Sill Artillery firing range. Closing the Ammo Depot would have the Government producing all this munitions in a highly populated part of Tennessee and transport all this explosives by rail through almost every large metropolitan area between Tennessee and Nevada/California. Not only is this not cost effective, but dangerous.

The positions removed from the Ammo Depot are scheduled to be moved to a site in Tennessee where the COLA (cost of living allowance) and pay spent on each employee is nearly twice the rate. Most of the raw material comes from the western United States also. The steel for the bombs is imported from our Allies in Japan through the western ports, and the components for the explosives is produced from Utah or New Mexico. The Government already spends massive amounts of money shipping these items to the Tennessee site for the East coast operations. Just adding even more to this cost will be the shipping of everything back over the same tracks again.

(Maybe this is someone's idea of Railway subsidies?)

Other then just being a political slap in the face of Senator Harry Reid or a bonus for a loyal Tennessee Congressmen, I and others in this area can not figure out why the Government is willing to spend more money by closing the Ammo Depot, then by leaving it open. The local and State governments are actively producing a cost analyses at this time for the committee and I will post the results if anyone is interested.

-----

on May 20, 2005

Here is the sob song; Other then having the only gas station and Casino on Route 395 with a 70 miles, between Reno and Las Vegas, there is really no other employer.

--In my hometown, part of the town is owned by the hospital,part is owned by Jeld-Wendt Corp.(or inc.,etc...) (part=about half

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