Author: Harry Briesmaster

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 33

ISBN-13:

After most major military conflicts the United States would draw down its forces not seeing the need for a large standing military in times of peace. Such reductions indeed occurred after World Wars I and II, Korea, and Vietnam. The end of the Cold War was no different. Even though the early 1980's saw a healthy increase to the defense budget but by the end of the decade the nation's economy was suffering. The bipolar world was coming to an end and so was the need for a large defense program. The cuts in defense were offered as the "peace dividend" to reinvigorate the economy. The process of downsizing the military was undertaken across the board. One of those key processes involved closing and realigning military bases. From 1989 to 1995, the Department of Defense (DOD) underwent four independent episodes of base realignment and closure initiatives. After the last round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) in 1995, the DOD acknowledged that it still had excess facilities and infrastructure suggesting future BRAC rounds were considered a must. Specifically, Defense Secretary Cohen in 1998 stated that the DOD was about 23 percent oversized. Therefore DOD's short answer to the question "Are we right-sized?" would be no; however, have defense needs changed given the terrorist aftermath of September 11, 2001? During the Cold War the United States national strategy was one of containment and deterrence. After the horrific tragedy of September 11th, President Bush outlined a new National Security Strategy in part calling for military preemption if necessary and establishment of a Homeland Security Office. The DOD must now develop a national military strategy based on this new policy. Is it then perhaps premature to be considering or planning for base closures or maybe the need to reopen or establish new bases to support a pending restructuring of military strategy? Or is the continuation of BRAC needed to offset or pay the costs required to implement this new strategy? This paper explores the need for future rounds of Base Realignment and Closure actions given the above issues and concerns. To set the framework, I will provide an historical overview of BRAC rounds I through IV to include their military, political, and economic issues. This section will also highlight some of the practical lessons learned and how they have been either incorporated into the process or might be employed in the future. In this first section, I will include some personal viewpoints as I interfaced with the BRAC process from my position as an Environmental Program Manger at the Air Force Center of Environmental Excellence (AFCEE). Though my primary responsibility was to help facilitate the closure, environmental assessment, and reuse of Myrtle Beach Air Force Base (AFB), South Carolina, I assisted my colleagues with similar duties impacting Air Force Base closures from all four BRAC rounds. The next section will focus on today's current political, military, and economic concerns associated with proposed BRAC actions while closing with a discussion on the BRAC of the future.