Defense secretary Leon Panetta announced recently that the White House is planning to ask Congress to authorize new rounds of base realignment and closures, likely for 2013 and 2015.
DoD needs to cut $487 billion in defense spending as mandated by Congress and is planning to reduce Army personnel from 562,000 to 490,000, and Marines from 202,000 to 182,000 by 2017, which would in turn allow the Air Force to trim its fleet.
In announcing the request, Panetta noted that as the force is drawn down, the infrastructure supporting it would need to be reduced.
The last BRAC process was completed in 2005 and its mandate is only now being fully carried out, and although no details on specific bases or assets have been released, stakeholders are already digging in for another fight.
For example, Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, and Kelly Ayotte, R-NH issued a joint statement saying new BRAC rounds are premature given the changes the department is undergoing. They also noted GAO findings that the 2005 BRAC found cost $35 billion, saying those savings might not be realized for some time, while extolling bases and defense programs in Maine.
