THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 8, 1995 TAG: 9502080519
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
For local government officials, nervous business people and defense workers who've assumed for years that 1995 is the last time they'll have to worry about military base closings, Defense Secretary William Perry has some unwelcome news.
He confirmed this week that he wants authority for another round of closures once the work of the 1995 Base Closure and Realignment Commission - or BRAC - is completed later this year.
``I'm not optimistic'' Congress will go along, Perry told reporters Monday. But he suggested that even after this year's commission is finished, the nation will have more bases than it needs to support the scaled-down military of tomorrow.
Congressional Republicans are likely to have a different view, some analysts suggested Tuesday in comments that echoed Perry's assessment.
``Congress is getting disenchanted with the BRAC escape hatch,'' said Eugene Carroll, a retired Navy rear admiral who is deputy director of the Center for Defense Information in Washington.
Lawmakers set up the independent commission to make base closing decisions in the mid-'80s, Carroll suggested, so individual senators and congressmen wouldn't be blamed by voters if their local bases had to be shut.
``It hasn't exactly worked out,'' he said, citing campaigns in which challengers have made hay blasting the incumbents' inability to protect bases.
One prominent congressional supporter of the BRAC process took a cautious approach Tuesday to Perry's new suggestion.
Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., said that before deciding whether to authorize another round of base closings, he'd like to hear from the secretary on what's been accomplished in three earlier rounds and what's coming this year.
Two weeks ago, Perry announced that the Pentagon will seek fewer base adjustments this year than in 1993, when some 130 installations were targeted for shutdown or realignment.
The reason is cost. The military wants to shed excess bases to save money that it can spend on new weapons and equipment after the turn of the century. Base closing panels in 1988, '91, and '93 ordered changes that will generate around $4 billion per year when all the adjustments are complete, Perry said.
But to realize those savings, the military must spend money now to clean up the targeted bases - many are contaminated with toxic wastes - and train displaced workers for jobs in the private sector.
Those funds are short, but the Pentagon will propose ``a significant list,'' Perry said. ``It will still be painful.''
Perry's comments on a possible future round of closings seemed almost offhand, though he conceded that money saved by closings is critical to the success of the administration's plan to modernize forces in the future.
Asked Tuesday if Perry or the Clinton administration generally will lobby Congress on the subject, Pentagon spokesman Glenn Floor demurred.
``The secretary's comments speak for themselves,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
The defense secretary says that even after this round, the U.S. will
have more bases than it needs.
KEYWORDS: BASE CLOSINGS MILITARY BASES by CNB