
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 12, 1991                   TAG: 9104121023
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press/
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

CHENEY LISTS MILITARY BASES TO BE CLOSED

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney is recommending the closure of 31 major domestic military bases and 12 minor installations as well as the realignment of 28 others, according to documents obtained today by The Associated Press.

"By 1995, the number of people in the U.S. military will be about one-fourth smaller than it is today. Smaller forces need fewer bases. It's as simple as that," Cheney said in a statement.

The estimated cost of closing the facilities is $5.7 billion from fiscal 1992 to fiscal 1997 while the savings will amount to about $6.5 billion. That means a net gain of $850 million, the Pentagon said.

Among the major Army facilities on the list to be closed are Fort McClellan in Anniston, Ala.: Fort Ord in Seaside, Calif.; Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, Ind.; Fort Devens in Ayer, Mass., and Fort Dix in Wrightstown, N.J.

Other Army posts on the closure list are Fort Chaffee in Arkansas and the Sacramento Army Depot in California. The Pentagon said all of Fort Chaffee will be turned over to the Army Reserve.

The nine Navy bases slated for closure are the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania; Naval Station Long Beach in California; Hunters Point Annex of Naval Station Treasure Island in San Francisco, Calif.; Naval Air Station Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, Calif.; the Naval Training Center in Orlando, Fla.; the Naval Station in Philadelphia; the Naval Air Station Chase Field in Beeville, Texas; Naval Station Puget Sound in Seattle and the Whidbey Island Air Station in Oak Harbor, Wash.

Air Force bases for closure include Eaker Air Force Base in Blytheville, Ark.; Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colo.; Grissom Air Force Base in Peru, Ind.; and Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, Mich.

The other Air Force bases on the list are Williams Air Force Base in Chandler, Ariz.; Castle Air Force Base in Merced, Calif.; Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Ga.; England Air Force Base in Alexandria, La.; Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine; Richards-Gebaur Air Reserve Station in Kansas City, Mo.; Rickenbacker Air Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio; Myrtle Beach Air Force Base in South Carolina; Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Texas; and Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas.

The lone Marine Corps facility slated for closure is the Air Station Tustin in El Toro, Calif.

The Pentagon chief's list now goes to an eight-member, independent commission, which can either accept or amend the recommendations before forwarding it on to President Bush on July 1.

The president has until July 15 to decide on whether to accept the list or disapprove it in its entirety before sending it to Congress for approval.

by CNB