[MilCom] BRAC closings?

[Amtrak35 at aol.com]

Article today in local Delaware paper with local slant on upcoming possible 
base closures...
 A few highlights/lowlights....Seems politics still has a large role.


 By JENNIFER BROOKS / News Journal Washington Bureau

  BRAC was set up to shield the base-closing process from politics as much as 
possible. Commission members are appointed by the White House and top 
congressional leaders, but are then free to operate independently.

But the fact remains that there has never been a base closure in Georgia -- 
home of former Sen. Sam Nunn, who was chairman of the Senate Armed Services 
Committee in every past BRAC round. Now Nunn is retired and Georgia is scrambling 
to save its 13 bases.

 There is little for anyone to do but speculate right now. Unlike past years, 
when hints about closures leaked out, the Pentagon has kept an airtight lid 
on the list, which could be released this week.

The scent of political influence still hangs in the air -- some of it left 
over from 1993.New Jersey's McGuire Air Force Base appeared on the closure list. 
It was an older base, crowded by nearby civilian communities and encroached 
upon by New York City's busy air traffic. But a former New Jersey congressman, 
Republican Jim Courter, headed the base-closure commission that year. McGuire 
not only stayed open but also snatched away a coveted and prestigious KC-10 
tanker-refueling mission from a base in Louisiana.

For every community that loses in the BRAC process, another stands to gain as 
military equipment and personnel are shifted around the country like pieces 
on a chess board. The realignment part of BRAC is one of the most often 
overlooked parts of the process.Carper, confident that Dover will survive the round 
of base closings, said he is already looking around for missions that could be 
shifted to Delaware.

  Senator Carper pointed to that tanker-refueling wing at McGuire Air Force 
Base as one mission he would like to see shift to Dover by the end of the 
realignment process.

 Mark
 Maryland