Base Closure And Realignment Commission Turns Eye To Air
Force
The Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted Friday
to keep open Ellsworth Air Force Base, SD, rejecting a Pentagon
proposal to close the base and consolidate the Air Force's B-1B
Lancer long-ranger bomber aircraft fleet at Dyess Air Force Base,
TX.
The nine-member BRAC panel also voted to keep Cannon Air Force
Base, NM, open until at least 2009, despite agreeing to relocate
its air wing and attached aircraft. The commissioners urged DoD's
to try to identify new missions for the base as its air wing and
attached aircraft are removed.
The decisions were among the panel's most significant Friday, as
it began its third day of final deliberations on DoD's proposal to
reshape military infrastructure and eliminate excess capacity by
closing 33 major bases and realigning 29 others.
The panel also voted to realign Randolph Air Force Base, TX, by
moving its undergraduate navigator training to Naval Air Station
Pensacola, FL.
Discussions during the afternoon were expected to focus on DoD's
proposal to shut down Pope Air Force Base, NC, turning it into an
Army airfield to support Fort Bragg, NC, and sweeping
recommendations to revamp the Air National Guard and consolidate
operations.
The commissioners voted Thursday to consolidate 26 Defense
Finance and Accounting Service offices into five: in Cleveland; in
Limestone, Maine, at the former Loring Air Force Base; in Rome, NY,
at the former Griffiss Air Force Base; at the Defense Supply Center
Columbus, OH; in the Bean Federal Center in Indianapolis, at the
former Fort Benjamin Harrison; and in Alexandria VA.
Another vote Thursday would mean consolidating medical
operations in San Antonio, TX, closing Wilford Hall Medical Center
at Lackland Air Force Base and creating the new San Antonio
Regional Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston. As part of that
decision, the panel voted to move the dental training school at
Sheppard Air Force Base, KS, to Fort Sam Houston.
The commission also voted to consolidate operations at three New
Jersey posts: Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base, and Naval Air
Engineering Station Lakehurst. The recommendation, if approved,
will create a single joint base under a central commander at
McGuire.
The panel also voted to close Onizuka Air Force Station, CA; and
Galena Airport Forward Operation Location, AK.