More bases and installations should be closed, senior Pentagon officials told lawmakers during a March 14 hearing on Capitol Hill. In 2004, a Defense Department study concluded that it had as much as 24 percent more property than it needed, John Conger, the acting deputy undersecretary of defense for installations, told the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee. The study would lead to a round of base closure and realignment (BRAC) the following year. But the 2005 BRAC reduced the number of installations by 3.4 percent, Conger said. Today, as each service reduces strength and budget constraints under sequestration are in effect, the need to dispose of more property is greater than ever, Conger told the panel. “Force structure is declining relative to that which existed in 2005, thereby continuing to add to aggregate excess capacity,” Conger said. “If we assume our bases were either appropriately loaded or were carrying excess capacity, these force reductions will increase that surplus,” he said. The Defense Department plans to present Congress with a list of base-closure options by year’s end, Conger said.
