[CPEO-IRF] Musical Chairs!

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The Pentagon's base closure list is more about transforming, or 
reorganizing the domestic military base structure, rather than 
downsizing it. The number of closures is much smaller than believed just 
a few months ago. But list contains a huge number of both gaining and 
losing realignments (measured by the number of employees and uniformed 
personnel positions). In fact, many bases would both lose and gain 
personnel, as military units are moved around the country.

In some ways, the realignments could have as much of an overall impact 
on local communities as the few high profile closures that are 
recommended. Significant reductions in base activity will have negative 
local economic impacts, but unless property is made available for 
transfer, they will have little opportunity to make up for those losses. 
I have not yet seen acreage analysis of the proposal, but it's unlikely 
that the military will be as likely to give up property from active 
installations because of concerns that adjacent development would 
encroach upon military operations.

Furthermore, a number of bases will see significant increases in 
military personnel and employees. On the one hand, they may benefit in 
raw economic terms, but there is no evidence that the Defense Department 
has analyzed the absorptive capacity - housing, transportation, 
environment, etc. - of those bases and their host communities.

Lenny
--
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org




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