Expert Calls For Closure Of 50-70 Military Bases Panel Chairman Says At Least 2 More Rounds Of Brac Needed
Philip Odeen, the chairman of a congressionally chartered panel of defense experts, said Tuesday that the government should close between 50 and 70 unnecessary military bases.
“It’s very important that we have at least two more … aggressive rounds of BRAC,” Odeen said, referring to the Base Realignment and Closure commission that targeted 97 major military bases for shutdown in four rounds of closures between 1988 and 1995. The commission also shifted activities among hundreds of smaller military facilities.
After the last round of closures in 1995, the commission was disbanded even though military officials said too many bases still remained open. Congress has resisted reviving the commission ever since.
Odeen, however, said Tuesday that the government should shut down “50 to 70 bases, something in that neighborhood.”
The recommendation parallels a proposal made by the Pentagon last month.
Odeen, who chaired the nine-member National Defense Panel (NDP) that included former senior military officers and defense experts, said he was confident Congress will ultimately agree to revive the commission and allow more closures despite widespread resistance.
Although he didn’t name specific candidates for closure, Odeen’s panel on Monday recommended dramatically scaling back operations at giant government-owned aircraft maintenance depots and called for private industry to take over much of the depots’ work.
“The Department of Defense is not an efficient or effective manager of industrial activities and should get out of this business to the extent possible,” said the report, which pressed for the elimination of legal requirements setting minimum workloads at government depots.
That recommendation is expected to meet strong opposition from lawmakers from Georgia, Oklahoma and Utah, who fought successfully this year to keep their depots open despite a declining workload due to a shrinking military.