With the Pentagon’s release of recommendations for military base realignment on Friday, all the obligatory politicking was close at hand. The Pentagon released their recommendations to the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) committee in hopes of increasing military efficiency in the post-Cold War era. Those members of Congress whose districts or states were most hard hit by the closures wasted no time digging into the Department of Defense.
Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the state slotted to see the largest net loss of jobs at almost 8,500, called the report “irrational and irresponsible.” He also referred to the plan as “shortsighted,” calling it “cruel and unusual punishment” for the people of his home state. Even Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist chimed in, calling this plan “flat wrong.”
Senators and Congressmen seeing their constituents hit the hardest by these closings will of course voice their distaste for a plan like this. They don’t want to go into a reelection campaign as the representative that hurt their local economies. They have a political interest in seeing their bases removed from the chopping block. They must also speak out now, seeing as once the BRAC commission and the president sign off on the recommendations, Congress can make no amendments to the plan. They can only approve or disapprove.
We must, of course, look at the aggregate to see the benefits of this plan that dissenting members of Congress won’t be shouting too loud to their constituents. The main idea driving this phase of realignment is the Pentagon’s desire to move away from a Cold War mentality, to a leaner, more efficient military that is better prepared to deal with modern threats. Basically, the Pentagon has decided to move beyond the weekend warrior protecting small town America from a Red attack. They want forces consolidated and streamlined for efficiency and more speedy response times. The Pentagon estimates that by making these adjustments they will save taxpayers $48.8 billion dollars over the next twenty years.
If our goal is to gear our military towards defense from and response to terror attacks, or more generally attacks from smaller radical groups, this added agility and efficiency is crucial. Gearing up against the Russian superpower would have allotted much more leeway for smaller bases. Considering the agility of terrorists and their preferred targets (not Idaho) these adjustments can be good.
But being from Mansfield, OH, I want to micromanage for a second. Ohio as whole stands to actually gain personnel from the current recommendations. Our state economy will see no real effects. Mansfield, however, is slotted to lose an Air National Guard base and an Army Reserve Center, resulting in 295 lost jobs. According to Tim Johnson, the press secretary for my home representative, Hon. Michael Oxley, these personnel would be relocated to sites in Toledo and Kentucky. Many of the c-130 aircraft at the base would be moved to larger bases in Alabama and Arkansas. This would seem to follow right along with the Pentagon’s future plans.
Mr. Johnson told me, however, that the recommendation to close the Mansfield-Lahm guard unit seems ill-timed considering the 18 million dollars the Pentagon has allocated to the unit over the past five years. The base had received the money to modernize its facilities, and the base coordinators have done just that. The eight c-130s held at the Mansfield unit are ready at a moment’s notice to depart for destinations like Bosnia and Afghanistan. Considering the Pentagon’s recent investment in the base, I wonder about its reasons for closing the unit so quickly.
What I worry about more than the bureaucracy’s ability to manage money is their ability to see the overall economic effects of these moves. While 295 lost jobs in Mansfield does not seem like much, one must keep in mind we’re talking about a city and surrounding area of about 50,000 people. Mansfield’s economy has been slowly waning as part of the ever-depressing Ohio Rust Belt economy sees the reduction in steel and manufactured goods production. The local economy is not good. Removing these 295 jobs is going to make matters worse.
While I agree with the base realignment strategy, I feel it may be time for the BRAC committee to dig a little deeper before sending a final plan to the president. The promising point to take from all of this is that the Pentagon recommendations are just the first step. The BRAC commission was established to better include communities and constituents in the discourse and debate. The commission will ultimately adopt 85% of the original recommendations, so there is a window for a city like Mansfield to make an impact. We in Columbus have no economic problem accepting these plans. But it may be your parents or grandparents back home that feel the pressure from these measures.
Zach Pickens represents the 419 and is a senior in political science and French. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].
