THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 11, 1994 TAG: 9410110287
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
A report claiming that military bases ordered closed are quietly reopening with new names or missions is inaccurate, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.
The report by the Business Executives for National Security states that 26 out of 67 major bases ordered closed since 1988 remain open in one form or another, either as bases for reserve units or housing different federal agencies.
``It's full of errors,'' said Defense Department spokesman Glenn Flood. ``Things are working out, we're closing bases. Nobody said it was going to be easy and quick, but it's going to continue to happen.''
Among errors cited by Flood, seven of the 26 ``reopened'' bases cited in the report were never slated to close but were to be given new, sometimes reduced missions.
The report notes that in 13 instances, bases slated for closure are receiving branch offices of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. It fails to mention, Flood said, that the relocation of DFAS offices was part of a dramatic reduction of that money-managing wing of the Pentagon from about 300 offices scattered around the country to approximately two dozen.
Based in Washington, the Business Executives for National Security, known as BENS, is a nonpartisan organization ``dedicated to improving U.S. national security'' by promoting efficient defense planning, spending and management.
One thrust of the 74-page report on base closings is that money wasted on bases that live on after being ordered closed could better be spent on weapons purchases or other basic elements of defense.
``What's at issue goes far beyond whether we close this base or that base,'' said Stanley Weiss, the group's chairman, at a news conference Monday. ``The real issue is national security - will defense dollars go for guns or for pork?''
The group argues that the best solution for closed military bases is to turn the property over to private developers, who will eventually create more jobs.
Pentagon officials acknowledge that it takes five to six years to close down a military base. In many cases, local National Guard and reserve units occupy some of the space vacated by the departed active-duty force. And federal regulations allow other government agencies first crack at surplus military property when it becomes available.
These factors, combined with political pressure from members of Congress, lead to new government activities at closed bases. BENS estimates that the federal activities taking place at the 26 military bases cited in its study will cost taxpayers $15 billion over the next five years.
They include a national park at the Presidio Army base in San Francisco, a naval air station at the former Norfolk Naval Depot, a NASA research center at Moffett Field, Calif., and a Fort Worth Naval Air Station at the former Carswell Air Force Base.
Flood, the Pentagon spokesman, disputed the use of the Presidio as an example, saying the base has, indeed, closed and that its new role as a national park was prescribed by federal law.
KEYWORDS: MILITARY BASES
by CNB