It’s too early to tell how many civil service jobs will be
lost or shuffled in the process, but the Defense Department
base closing process will go forward next year as a new round
of closings and restructuring takes shape, following President
Bush’s signature of the fiscal 2005 Defense Department
authorization bill.
According to the Department of Defense, a key component to
the 2005 base realignment and closure initiative is whether
a military installation “contributes to and accommodates
joint operations,” or joint war-fighting, to combat “21st
century threats like global terrorism.”
By prioritizing certain facilities and functions, the 2004
initiative will affect thousands of civil service jobs due
to mission changes or transfers of entire functions from one
base to another.
DoD keeps the actual list secret until release, though
Congress gets it early. The announcement comes next year
and the actions are subject to an up or down vote — no
changes — although actual base closures and realignments
take place over several years and not much happens
immediately.
BRACs from 1988 to 1995 closed 97 bases and realigned 57,
and DoD figures it has about 23 percent of excess
infrastructure remaining.
Officials said that Pentagon officials are valuing “speed
and surprise,” have noted that, “multi-service cooperation
in the transportation field in recent years has greatly
leveraged the Army’s combat projection power,” and that
they intend to merge certain military research and
laboratory facilities this time around.
