[CPEO-MEF] American Enterprise Institute view of encroachment

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Noise Complaint 

By Alan W. Dowd
The American Enterprise
Hot Flash 

After a ten-year hiatus, the Base Realignment and Closure process is
back. Pentagon leaders say they are using this round of realignment to
spur transformation, promote joint activity among the branches, enhance
surge capacity, trim costs, shed obsolete facilities and (it appears)
offload some lingering headaches: As Government Executive magazine
reported when the BRAC-2005 criteria were released back in late 2003,
?The efficiency and operational necessity of military bases won't be the
only factors under consideration as the Pentagon weighs closure and
consolidation decisions. Another factor will be what happens outside the
walls of bases.? 

In other words, the Pentagon is increasingly mindful of how much it
costs to keep the neighbors happy. With the landscape surrounding its
facilities dwindling away and the number of regulations that impinge
upon its ability to train mushrooming, the military faces an increasing
number of obstacles at home as it prepares for war abroad. As Pentagon
BRAC specialist Raymond DuBois told Government Executive, these and
other issues of ?encroachment? - a catchall term referring to any factor
that limits or interferes with the Armed Forces? ability to train for
war - could play a role in determining which bases will close.

...

For the entire column, see
http://www.taemag.com/issues/articleID.18563/article_detail.asp

-- 


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
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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