Southwest Defense Complex

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

ALLIANCE PUSHES TO RETAIN
"SOUTHWEST DEFENSE COMPLEX"

State and local officials from five southwestern states have formed the
Southwest Defense Alliance to promote the creation of the interservice
Southwest Defense Complex. While some of its points make sense, in
essence the new Lancaster, California-based Alliance is just a slightly
sophisticated military base retention lobby. It ignores entirely the
environmental and other negative impacts of military testing and
training in the region.

The five states are California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.
They currently host some of the nation's largest training and testing
facilities, including:

ARIZONA
Yuma Marine Corps Air Station
Yuma Proving Ground (Army)

CALIFORNIA
China Lake Naval Air Warfare Center
Edwards Air Force Base
Fort Irwin National Training Center (Army)
Pt. Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center
Twenty-Nine Palms Air-to-Ground Combat Center (Marines)
Vandenberg Air Force Base

NEVADA
Fallon Naval Air Station and ranges
Nellis Air Force Base

NEW MEXICO
White Sands Missile Range (Army)

UTAH
Utah Test and Training Range

The Alliance proposes to combine those facilities administratively,
across armed services and across the testing-training divide, into the
Southwest Defense Complex. It lists a number of other "associated"
military and NASA facilities that "work very closely" with proposed
complex facilities.

The Alliance notes the Defense Department's continuing plans to reduce
its infrastructure and workforce, as well as Secretary Cohen's proposal
for two more rounds of base closure. It finds: "Congress has not been
receptive to more base closures. Consequently bases are suffering from
inadequate funding and manpower due to across-the-board budget cuts,
'downsizing in place,' and mission bleed. Continuing to 'downsize in
place' is not the answer. Continuing to inadequately fund all bases when
the reduced workload can not support the existing infrastructure will
force gross inefficiencies, reduce the capability to meet DOD's war
fighting requirements, and reach the wrong long-term answer because of a
series of short-term decisions."

The Alliance expects the individual armed services to start
consolidating activities internally, precluding "careful consideration
of efficiencies from cross-service consolidation." It proposes, instead,
increased cooperation among the armed services, and it believes that the
southwest, with its concentration of large training and test facilities,
is the best place to achieve that consolidation.

Consolidation of training ranges, in particular, makes sense. From an
environmental point of view, it can reduce or at least slow the
expansion of military training areas and airspace. It has always been
difficult politically, because of the independent, often competitive
attitudes of each armed service. However, the downward budgetary
pressure might make it happen. If the Alliance advances cooperation,
that's a good thing.

Beyond that concept, however, the Southwest Defense Alliance is little
more than an expansive base retention committee, established by boosters
to keep military dollars and jobs in its combined backyard. The Alliance
only sees the positive aspects of the military presence. It doesn't even
give lip service to the negative impacts - such as noise, pollution,
habitat destruction, and resource consumption - of the bases. Given the
intense debate currently going on at some of these facilities, the
oversight appears deliberate.

To the Alliance, one of the strengths of the proposed complex is its
"remoteness from population centers." In fact, some of the bases are
near large civilian populations. More important, it ignores the impact
of military activity on natural resources - such as wilderness areas,
ranchland, and farmland - and lands significant to Native Americans.
Conflicts between westerners and military range use have intensified
enormously over recent years. If the Alliance continues to ignore the
concerns of its members' constituents - cowboys and Indians, farmers and
environmentalists - it can only create a backlash.

Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/968-1126
lsiegel@cpeo.org