July 19, 2005

 

No New Arguments

By: Staff

Sen. Olympia Snowe says Pentagon fails to make its case to realign BNAS during Monday's hearing in Washington
 

WASHINGTON — The base-closing commission expressed deep reservations Monday about parts of the Pentagon's proposal to restructure domestic military bases, including its plan to disband or move dozens of Air National Guard units.

The Pentagon countered by telling the commission to leave its closure and realignment recommendations intact because they are part of a well-researched and delicate downsizing of the nation's military.

That the recommendations were not well researched is at the core of the Maine congressional delegation's argument against closing Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the Limestone Defense Finance Accounting Center and realigning Brunswick Naval Air Station.

On the eve of a vote today by the commission on whether to add about a dozen facilities to those the Defense Department has proposed closing or shrinking, panel members questioned why several were left off the list. These included the Naval Shipyard at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.

Adding Pearl Harbor to the list would be a huge victory for Maine and New Hampshire officials, who have argued against the proposal to shut down Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery.

Commission members Monday questioned why the Department of Defense recommends closing Portsmouth — the Navy's most efficient shipyard — rather than proposing a realignment that would keep both bases open but shift long-term work to Portsmouth and emergency work to Pearl Harbor.

Defense officials said Pearl Harbor's strategic location in the Pacific was a key factor in the decision. And they added that a submarine force of 55-56 vessels would not provide too much work for the remaining shipyards.

"Despite numerous questions posed by the commissioners, the Defense Department again relied on the same arguments and incorrect analysis to justify their recommendation," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, adding that the Navy needs four shipyards to maintain the submarines. She and other Maine and New Hampshire lawmakers met with members of the commission after the meeting.

BNAS
Snowe said the Pentagon on Monday provided no new arguments for downsizing Brunswick Naval Air Station, a move that would strip the facility of all its aircraft and 85 percent of active-duty personnel.

Snowe and the rest of the delegation contend that they have dismantled the Pentagon's reasoning, showing that it was developed using wrong or missing data and that Brunswick's location makes it vital to homeland security and surveillance of Northeastern shipping lanes.

The Navy believes it can save millions of dollars by moving Patrol Wing 5's squadrons to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla. Snowe and the delegation said the savings just aren't there.

"The Defense Department continued to overvalue their projected cost savings, which was the sole justification for realignment, and which we demonstrated are deeply flawed," said Snowe in a press release on Monday. "The Defense Department itself had already taken the closure option off the (closure list) in recognition of Brunswick's strategic value."

No rubber stamp
The skepticism exhibited by members of the independent commission at a hearing was an indication that they won't rubber-stamp Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's proposal as some in Congress had feared.

In May, Rumsfeld proposed closing or reducing forces at 62 major bases and hundreds of smaller installations to save money and streamline U.S. military services.

Commission Chairman Anthony Principi has pledged to analyze the list independently and make changes if needed before sending it to President Bush for approval this fall.

"We want to make sure the best possible closure or realignment choices are made," Principi said. "It is not our intent to disrupt or to unreasonably target communities that may have breathed a sigh of relief in May when the secretary's list of recommendations was released, or to further burden communities already facing losses."

After voting today on whether to add certain bases to the Pentagon's initial list, the nine-member commission will conduct public hearings, visit the sites and collect data to make direct comparisons with bases that perform similar missions and are slated for closure. Any base on the list can be removed when the commission meets again in August.

Defense officials who testified Monday discouraged changes to Rumsfeld's list of proposed closures and consolidations.

Michael Wynne, the Pentagon's technology and weapons-buying chief who oversaw the base restructuring project, said, "While the department stands behind its recommendations, it fully supports the commission and analysis of alternatives."

However, Wynne then reiterated Rumsfeld's contention that changing the fate of even one base could disrupt other aspects of the "comprehensive, integrated and interdependent" package of recommendations.

Commissioners appeared unlikely to heed that warning.

Air National Guard
Nearly every commissioner questioned the Pentagon's proposal to scrap or shift roughly 30 Air National Guard units by taking away the planes or the missions. By law, governors command Guard forces during statewide emergencies such as civil disturbances, floods, hurricanes or forest fires.

State officials complain that Rumsfeld can't legally move the units without the governors' consent, and Pennsylvania officials have filed a lawsuit over the issue. The Justice Department is reviewing the matter, and defense officials have asked the commission to refrain from changing Rumsfeld's Air National Guard recommendations until that ruling.

Harold Gehman, a commissioner and a retired Navy admiral, called the Air National Guard proposals "unworkable and unsatisfactory."

Several others, including Principi, questioned whether Rumsfeld's recommendations would hamper homeland security duties or create recruiting problems.

Commissioner Philip Coyle, a former assistant secretary of defense, said of the recommendations, "They produce very little savings."

Defense officials said the benefits of consolidating the Guard units to achieve a more cohesive force outweigh the drawbacks.

Several commission members also pressed for an explanation for why the Pentagon decided to leave open the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego — when the Marines already have a recruiting station at Parris Island, S.C., and the other services have consolidated their recruit-training facilities.

"I'm having a hard time getting my hands around this," said commissioner James Hansen, a former Utah congressman.

Commissioners also questioned decisions to scale back drastically operations, rather than close, the Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine, Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina, and Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.
 

 
 

 



 

 

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