Base Closings in your area

[vandiver49]

The latest round of BRAC (Base Realignment and Closings) list is scheduled to be released later this year? Are there bases in your area that are in danger of closing? How do you think the closings will affect your area? Are there bases that you think should be closed? As a resident of ATL, my state (GA) has never had to face the threat, but with the 2005 one being billed as the 'mother of all BRAC' any and every military installation seems as though its got 'chopping block' potential.

In GA the ones I know for sure are:

FT McPherson

Dobbins AFB

FT Gordon

Moody/Warner Robbins AFB (one or the other)

[Spartan]

Those are most of GA's bases aren't they?

The last big one in SC was the Charleston Naval Base. It was devastating to the Charleston economy.

I think there is some concern that Ft Jackson (Columbia) might be closed, but of even more concern is Shaw AFB in Sumter.

[vandiver49]

Those are most of GA's bases aren't they?

The last big one in SC was the Charleston Naval Base. It was devastating to the Charleston economy.

I think there is some concern that Ft Jackson (Columbia) might be closed, but of even more concern is Shaw AFB in Sumter.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, ATL would still have FT Gillem, Columbus is keeping FT Benning. Plus FT Stewart and Kings Bay Naval Station aren't going anywhere.

I definately remember when NS Charleston was closed, I miss that port immensely.

[bobliocatt]

Jacksonville lost its largest base, Cecil Field, in the last BRAC rounds about 10 years ago. It was a hit to the economy, but know its been converted into a major manufacturing and distribution center. Some of the companies with manufacturing facilites there include Boeing, Northrop Grumman Corp. and Logistics Services International.

Mayport Naval Base

Since its the only naval base on the east coast, outside of Norfolk, everyone belives it will be safe. However, it looks like we'll lose the JFK aircraft carrier (employs +3,000) to decommissioning. Hopefully, we'll get another aircraft carrier to replace it.

Kings BaySubmarine Base

This base in actually in Georgia, but it acts as a support to Mayport. Since Mayport most likely will still be in operation, this base looks safe also.

Jacksonville Naval Air Station

Overall it appears to be safe as well. However, there is some concerning that it will lose a major naval manufacturing facility on the base that employs 4,000 workers.

[benjamin]

so what happens to the Dobbins once they close it?

[ATLman1]

Ft. Benning outside of Columbus is growing like crazy. There is over 1 BILLION in new construction that is proposed for the base. The 5th Brigade is coming this year and bringing almost 6,000 new soldiers plus their families. That will boost metro Columbus' population by over 18,000 new people. Plus with other bases closing, I am sure more people will move to the Columbus area. I hope that no bases close in GA, but I think that places like Ft. Gordon and Moody have their days limited.

[monsoon]

Myrtle Beach was very happy when Myrtle Beach Air Force Base was shut down. The base was located on very valuable land it is reverted back to the city per agreement when the base was first created.

[vandiver49]

Lakelander,

While JFK will probably be put out to pasture... Mayport will probably get an Amphib or two as compensation (Mayport can't support nuclear carriers right now and I'm not sure how the state would feel about having one.)

And two answer your question benjermin, what I would love to see for Dobbins is for it to be converted into a Regional airport along the lines of Reagan Nat'l...but Cobbites won't go for that so instead they'll attempt to reclaim it for commericial and residential use. But that's a very expensive undertaking.

[bobliocatt]

The state would welcome a nuclear, if it means having a carrier, saving the base and keeping +3,000 workers in town. The state and Jacksonville are already studying updating the base to accommodate nuclears. Nuclears already visit the base from time to time, so it may be in the city's best interest to convert to nuclear instead of fitting for a old ship (JFK) that needs to be decommissioned.

[Spartan]

Jacksonville lost its largest base, Cecil Field, in the last BRAC rounds about 10 years ago.  It was a hit to the economy, but know its been converted into a major manufacturing and distribution center.  Some of the companies with manufacturing facilites there include Boeing, Northrop Grumman Corp. and Logistics Services International.

Mayport Naval Base

Since its the only naval base on the east coast, outside of Norfolk, everyone belives it will be safe.  However, it looks like we'll lose the JFK aircraft carrier (employs +3,000) to decommissioning.  Hopefully, we'll get another aircraft carrier to replace it.

It would be logisticly unwise of the DOD to close Mayport. That would mean putting all of our eggs in one basket so to speak.

[Troy.One]

Kings Bay, GA won't be around much longer than the next 10 years, if that long.

[bobliocatt]

^Why do you say that?

[vandiver49]

Kings Bay, GA won't be around much longer than the next 10 years, if that long.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As long as nuclear detterence remains apart of our National Defense policy (thus the need for SSBN's), Kings's Bay will operational for some time. Plus the base is relatively new (1980'ish) The only other place this operation could move to is Charleston (b/c of the Naval Weapons Station)

[ElGobernador]

Anniston is still limping around from when Ft. McClellan closed almost 6 years ago. What's worse is that the clean-up of the base is taking forever. However, they have turned half of it into a National Wildlife Refuge.

[vdogg]

The state would welcome a nuclear, if it means having a carrier, saving the base and keeping +3,000 workers in town.  The state and Jacksonville are already studying updating the base to accommodate nuclears.  Nuclears already visit the base from time to time, so it may be in the city's best interest to convert to nuclear instead of fitting for a old ship (JFK) that needs to be decommissioned.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One states gain is anothers loss. That carrier is being taken from norfolk

[Viper]

Yes, Norfolk...that has 5 carriers already.

Norfolk losing one would be like you losing a finger.

Jacksonville losing its only one is like losign the whole arm.

[bobliocatt]

Considering that the West coast carriers are spread out between 3 cities, I wonder how Norfolk ended up with 5 carriers and Mayport was never upgraded, especially since they're the only two naval facilities on the East Coast capable of hosting aircraft carriers?

[vandiver49]

Considering that the West coast carriers are spread out between 3 cities, I wonder how Norfolk ended up with 5 carriers and Mayport was never upgraded, especially since they're the only two naval facilities on the East Coast capable of hosting aircraft carriers?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Location my friend. I would contend that Hawaii is unique in that it's in the middle of the Pacific and has a significant strategic value. Thus if you look at CONUS ports there are 2 on the West and 1 on the East. The rational from the East coast perspective was that Norfolk was the perfect staging location when the US was in the Cold War (It just an easier TRANS LANT crossing to the Mediterrianean)

That being said I don't know why Navy Brass couldn't see the potential for Pearl Harbor Part II by putting all the carrier in Hampton Roads.

[thehappysmith]

The Navy brass have already publicly stated they don't want to have all East Coast carriers at a single port. This would force an upgrade at Mayport, which has been in the works for years but there's never been money budgeted for it. However, that's where the RA part of BRAC comes in: Base Re-Alignment and Closure. Not everything that gets BRACed necessarily closes.

Dobbins ARB in Atlanta isn't likely going to change hands; it's a reserve base, ANG C-130s and a variety of other staging. There is already private industry at Dobbins, and at any rate reserve bases that get BRACed have a history of magically transforming into national guard bases instead (Phelps Collins, George, et al).

Georgia is, however, very likely to lose one of the AFBs. Sanford Bishop is trying to get himself onto the actual commission so he can save Moody. That's where I went to pilot training, and I'll be honest, I love the base, I love the town, and I really hope they kill Robins instead. But either way, whichever base closes it will devasate the local economy. I do fear for Moody; the base has only two runways and so can't be a full-fledged training base, but with the longest at only 8000 feet and change the base can't contemplate a mobility mission. Moody could take on the F-16 training mission from Luke, if that were closed, but just as easily the T-6 and HC-130 missions could be moved elsewhere.

Sam Gibbons recently told the Tampa city council to start planning for MacDill to get BRACed. Regardless of what handwringing may occur at official levels, Tampa area developers would love nothing more than to see the base closed. It sits at the end of the Interbay peninsula, with beautiful views of Tampa on one side and St. Pete on the other. That said, I don't believe we'll lose MacDill. SOCOM and CENTCOM have been here since their inception; moving the headquarters of SOCOM would be extremely expensive, to the point of not really being worth it. CENTCOM looks curiously temporary for an organization that's been on the base for over 20 years, but I think that's just the way they like it (it's more austere that way). The actual air wing has made repeated efforts to show just how handy the location is and how well we work with local air traffic, and would desperatly like to steal the 135 squadron from Robins and bring them down here (won't happen, but we'd like it anyway). I suspect we're safe.

I worry more about Patrick AFB in Cocoa Beach. The base's mission is support of Canaveral AS, the east coast space launch facility, but the AF has been launching more and more from Vandenburg and I suspect that Patrick's mission could in fact be operated entirely from Canaveral, or from a much smaller chunk of property than Patrick now occupies. It will be interesting to see what happens.

[bobliocatt]

well it looks like Norfolk will lose a carrier

Mayport carrier gets high support

By DAVID DECAMP

The Times-Union

WASHINGTON -- An aircraft carrier should be moved to a nuclear-ready Mayport Naval Station to replace a mothballed USS John F. Kennedy, the Navy's top officer told lawmakers Wednesday.

Adm. Vernon Clark, chief of naval operations, signaled Navy support by saying he approved moving a carrier there and making the necessary nuclear upgrades. He also reiterated his support for two East Coast bases and going ahead with an environmental study at Mayport.

The Kennedy and USS Kitty Hawk are the Navy's only oil-fired carriers among its fleet of 12, and Mayport currently is not nuclear-capable.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., announced in news releases that Clark's intentions mean Mayport will host a nuclear carrier, though others including Clark said it's not a done deal.

"When the highest ranking person, the guy who's in charge of moving ships around, says that, it's got to be good," Crenshaw said.

President Bush's proposed budget includes decommissioning the Kennedy this year. Local leaders sought to protect the ship but increasingly built a stiffer effort to upgrade Mayport -- a goal for more than a decade.

Clark noted the dangers of over-concentrating carriers in one place after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a warning Crenshaw and others have made since shutting down the Kennedy became possible.

Speaking to a House subcommittee on the military inside the Capitol, Clark said the process to becoming nuclear-capable has taken 18 months to a decade. There's also several years of conceiving plans besides environmental issues, such as improving wharves.

"It all depends on how the parties are working together. It is my view we ought to start that study process as soon as we can," Clark told lawmakers.

Clark told the Times-Union he was uncertain whether a new study or updating a 1997 report would be done. However, he said the prior study could "speed the process" toward becoming nuclear-capable at Mayport. A couple of more years beyond the study would be needed to make the base ready.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is already working on a list of base closures due this year. Clark said the secretary is studying a lot of activities, and then will call for the study.

"And you need to emphasize it's a study. It's not a decision," Clark said, adding later that "my business is to make recommendations to the secretary, so please don't put me in a position of trying to create expectations for the people of Jacksonville."

But Crenshaw noted neither Clark nor Assistant Defense Secretary B.J. Penn objected to Crenshaw's question about adding money for nuclear upgrades in 2006. None is there now, and the total cost is expected to be more than $100 million.

"I think the Navy would support that," Penn said of additions.

Clark also said 2007 planning is under way, but changes to proposed spending happen routinely in Washington.

Crenshaw said later any available money could be found during the budgeting process Congress has started over the $420 billion defense budget. He offered no specific opportunities.

The nuclear option at Mayport has potentially powerful resistance, though. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., who chairs the Armed Services Committee, came out against the study and moving or mothballing any carriers last week. The other East Coast base is in Norfolk, Va., which stands to lose carriers.

Warner believes any basing decision should happen as part of the base closure and long-term planning, spokesman John Ullyot said, adding that the decommissioning and planning processes have just begun. He has not addressed Mayport specifically.

david.decampjacksonville.com, (904) 359-4699

This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stor..._18178574.shtml.

[Viper]

"When the highest ranking person, the guy who's in charge of moving ships around, says that, it's got to be good," Crenshaw said.

Indeed.

[krazeeboi]

S.C. military communties brace for base-closing verdicts

Leaders are generally optimistic about prospects for S.C. installations

By CHUCK CRUMBO

Staff Writer

South Carolina probably will lose at least one military facility when the Defense Department releases its proposed list of military base closings later this week.

The Charleston Naval Hospital is a goner, even base-closing opponents concede.

Elsewhere in the Palmetto State, however, base-closing opponents are hopeful their military facilities may escape the Pentagon

[socaguy]

Im not so sure that Ft. Gordon will go since they are about to bring in lots of new people soon. I guess that doesnt mean much though. I do think it would hurt Augusta but not as bad as other cities that are more dependant on their bases like Fayetteville or Columbus. Augustas largest industries, (employers) are SRS and the Medical Industry, not the Fort.

[ironchapman]

I thought ATL's McPherson was too impotant to close. In WWII, it was Patton's HQ, but that was back in WWII. What does McPherson do now? I'd like to know the same about Gillem.

Benning is too important to the military to close. I believe it's the Infantry's most important training base. The Nat'l Infantry Museum is there, for example.

You'll have to forgive me, I'm not too knowledgeable on Forts. Why do they close, especially now in the middle of a war?

[waccamatt]

I think the most likely base to close in the Columbia area is McEntire ANG base. I seriously doubt an installation the size of Fort Jackson will be closed, but Shaw AFB is a possibility. If Fort Jackson closed it would certainly hurt Columbia for awhile, but it would also open up alot of land for development, but if Shaw closed, half of Sumter would have to either move to or find work in Columbia. Sumter would be devastated.