Risk to Fairchild a public concern

We can exhale, for now, although the news that Fairchild Air Force Base isn’t targeted for closure has a disappointing side note. Realignment of personnel and mission means a recommended loss of nearly 200 military and civilian workers.

That concern is pleasantly overshadowed by the relief that Fairchild, with its $293 million annual payroll, is more secure than it was a couple of days ago. And while the Pentagon recommendation threatens 26 military and 172 civilian positions, that’s an impact that could be reversed in time if the 60-year-old base’s mission is expanded in the future.

That’s an objective that the coalition of Fairchild advocates known as “Forward Fairchild” has emphasized during its lobbying efforts and plan to keep pushing.

“The same community spirit and assertiveness exhibited in Forward Fairchild to keep the base off the list will now be directed on growing its missions,” said Rich Hadley, president of the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Technically, the anxiety isn’t over. The nine-member Base Realignment and Closure Commission has until Sept. 8 to study the Pentagon’s recommendation and forward a final plan to the White House. Installations can still be added if a supermajority of seven commissioners can be persuaded to do so. In four earlier BRAC rounds the commission has bought off on 85 percent of what the Defense Department suggested, so while vulnerability is sharply reduced, it’s not eliminated.

Moreover, there’s no reason to think that the BRAC process will end after this, the fifth round. So the effort by Forward Fairchild and the region’s representatives in Congress will have to continue.

The complication they face is that while the economic-impact story is of keen interest to the state and community, the government’s decision is based on strategic considerations beyond civic leaders’ and politicians’ bipartisan influence. They can’t lobby away the fact that the biggest military threat today comes from terrorists and from Asia, not from the former Soviet Union, which largely influenced today’s array of bases. Nor can local enthusiasts alter the fact that existing domestic bases have 5 percent to 10 percent more space than the Pentagon estimates they need.

There are, however, areas where the military’s stated concerns align with things a community can do. We can make sure that zoning ordinances preserve the buffer that keeps possible expansion of Fairchild for new missions from creating a hostile clash with surrounding residents. We can commit local services – transit and affordable housing – to meet the needs of young service members and their families. We can take legislative steps, such as reining in predatory lenders who exploit lower-paid enlisted personnel.

The recommendations that went to the BRAC Commission on Friday were two years in the making. The current BRAC Commission terminates next April 15. The Spokane community’s relationship with Fairchild Air Force Base, meanwhile, dates to 1942. With ongoing community energy, it will last indefinitely.