According to today's New York Times, "A majority of the members of the independent commission assessing the Pentagon's proposed list of domestic base closings say that the Defense Department probably overstated the nearly $50 billion in savings projected over 20 years, perhaps by nearly 50 percent." And commission chairman Anthony J. Principi, former secretary of veterans affairs, adds:
We're going through this effort to save money from excess capacity to modernize forces. If the savings aren't there, and it costs money to do this on top of all the economic upheaval, why are we doing this?
Great question, especially considering the upheaval and economic dislocation these base closing could cause. Here in Virginia, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, we've got "31 major military installations...[employing] more than 250,000 military and civilian defense workers" and could face "a net job loss of 1,574 under the Pentagon recommendations." That's part of the reason why Senators John Warner, George Allen, and Mark Warner have all questioned the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure Commission) recommendations for Virginia. Just about a month ago, these three Virginia leaders testified before BRAC commissioners under oath. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
The trio of top elected leaders primarily pressed their case to preserve jobs in Arlington, keep open Fort Monroe in Hampton, which Pentagon officials have targeted for closure, and undo plans to shift some operations from Fort Eustis in Newport News and the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren in King George County.They also expressed concern over the commission's inquiry last week into why the department did not recommend moving the Navy flight squadron at Oceana in Virginia Beach to Moody Air Force Base in Georgia.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see if the latest estimates on cost savings lead to changes -- big or small - in some of these plans. Stay tuned...