THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 10, 1994 TAG: 9410100058
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC SCHMITT, THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
After three rounds of closing military bases, and with the biggest round still to come, more than one-third of the installations that were supposed to close have managed to stay open, a new study by a business group says.
The operations that survive at 26 major bases that have been ordered shut since 1988 could cost the government more than $15 billion in the next five years, says an analysis conducted by Business Executives for National Security, a private Washington-based organization that seeks to reduce spending and eliminate waste at the Pentagon.
The study, whose results are to be made public today, says the Pentagon has allowed bases to stay open by transferring Defense Department offices and other federal agencies, as well as reserve military units. In some cases the special commissions that recommended the closings approved the changes in plans.
The study also faults local officials, many of whom fought closings in the first place, for embracing a continued federal presence rather than trying to rely entirely on commercial projects.
The findings, the most extensive to date on the status of the major military closings, raise questions about the savings the Pentagon has said it expects.
The Defense Department has estimated that when all the closings are complete, toward the end of the decade, savings will amount to $4.6 billion a year. Defense Secretary William J. Perry is relying heavily on this money to pay troops, to train them and to modernize weapons in the future.
Three special commissions, established by a law that sought to sidestep the political and bureaucratic tangles that normally arise when military bases are closed, met in 1988, 1991 and 1993 and listed about 70 major installations to close.The recommendations were approved by Congress.
Since 1990, the Pentagon has reduced its forces by about 30 percent, but the number of bases has dropped by only about 15 percent, which means the military is paying for many more installations than it needs, military officials have said.
Yet, Pentagon officials, who say it takes five to six years to shut down a base completely, challenge the new study. They say some bases listed as open in the report are closed or are going to close soon. They also said nine bases were closed in just the last two weeks.
``No one expected the restructuring of one of the world's largest organizations to be easy, quick or smooth,'' said Joshua Gotbaum, the assistant secretary of Defense for economic security. ``But anyone who thinks we're not doing it is just plain wrong.''
Lawmakers and Pentagon officials have predicted that the 1995 round of decisions, the last one that has been scheduled to date, could identify more bases to close than the previous three combined. The military has an overall goal of shutting down 15 percent of all remaining military installations.
The 74-page report, a copy of which was made available to The New York Times, also criticized the Pentagon's plan to assign 13 new Pentagon accounting offices to bases that are closing.
The report said the decision would reduce projected savings by $385 million. Gotbaum, however, said the Defense Department conducted a detailed cost analysis and found that those bases were the cheapest sites for the centers. ILLUSTRATION: Chart by N.Y. Times News Service
Adding It Up: What bases would cost
Independent organization of business leaders...estimated how much it
would cost to keep following bases open five years beyond their
scheduled closing...
For complete information see microfilm.
Source: Business Executives for National Security
KEYWORDS: BASE CLOSING DEFENSE BASE CLOSURE AND REALIGNMENT COMMISSION by CNB