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Now is a time of great
uncertainty in our country- terrorism is on the
rise, foreign countries continue to arm themselves
with weapons of mass destruction, and America is at
war. It hardly seems like the time to be reducing
the nation’s military capabilities, yet that is what
the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process is
now doing. On Friday the 13th, of all
days, the Department of Defense (DoD) recommended
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for closure and Brunswick
Naval Air Station for realignment. The Pentagon has
a proven record of failing in its efforts to predict
future national security threats, so these decisions
come as no real surprise. But it is simply a
travesty that DoD’s ineptitude puts our safety and
the livelihoods of thousands of Mainers in jeopardy.
Although our
delegation has fought to keep Portsmouth and
Brunswick off the BRAC list every step of the way,
we have prepared for this possibility. This is not
the end of our fight – we will not be deterred for
one moment as we make the case for both
installations on their merits and on the criteria
the BRAC Commission will use to determine their
fate. We must do all we can to educate the BRAC
commissioners so that they do not make the same
mistakes the Pentagon has made. These devastating
decisions have hit workers, servicemen and women,
their families, and their communities hard. The
Governor, the delegation and I – and the Governor
and congressional delegation of New Hampshire with
regard to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard – are dedicated
to dismantling the Department of Defense’s deeply
flawed analysis.
In the case of
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, we will be aided in our
efforts by the Navy itself. Amazingly, the day
before DoD released the BRAC list, the Chief of
Naval Operations presented the Meritorious Unit
Commendation to Portsmouth – in part because “the
personnel of Portsmouth Naval
Shipyard...consistently and superbly performed their
mission while establishing a phenomenal record of
cost, schedule, quality, and safety performance.”
To hold Portsmouth up as the finest shipyard in the
country and then recommend it for closure the very
next day exceeds the limits of reason.
To date, 49 bases in
the Northeast alone have been lost to BRAC, with New
England experienced almost a 50 percent reduction in
military infrastructure in the prior four rounds of
base closings. One would think that to take away
even more strategically located and high-performing
bases would make little sense from a national
security perspective. However, the Pentagon has
recommended the most efficient, innovative shipyard
in the nation for closure. It has also recommended
for realignment the last remaining active duty
military airfield in the Northeast: Brunswick Naval
Air Station. Neither of these decisions can be
allowed to stand.
As if
determined to leave no Maine military facility
unscathed, DoD also recommended closing the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service Center (DFAS) center
in Limestone. This facility that has earned the
“Heroes of Reinvention” award for its
accomplishments in making government work, a fact
which apparently went unnoticed by DoD. The DFAS
Center at Loring is a stellar operation, and we will
do all we can to make sure the BRAC Commission
understands what the Pentagon does not.
In the
final analysis, it is the facts that will prove to
the BRAC Commission that we must not forfeit these
three indispensable, irreplaceable military
facilities. We will make the case for all our
facilities before the Commissioners and their staff
as many times and in as much depth as it takes to
open their eyes to the strengths of these
outstanding facilities and the weaknesses of the
Navy’s arguments. The men and women whose
livelihoods depend on Portsmouth, Brunswick, and the
DFAS deserve no less. |
