[US] Scott Air Force Base avoids 2005 BRAC

[CiQuat]

At 8:15am CDT, Illinois Representative Jerry Costello held a special, and unusual, morning press conference, a couple hours before the offical Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) release to announce the Scott Air Force Base (SAFB) has not been recommended for closure in the 2005 BRAC. The nation will find out later this morning which installations are among the 150 reported to be closed by the BRAC as recommended by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in an attempt to save a reported $48.8 billion over the next 20 years.

Yahoo News is reporting 33 of those 150 installations will be major U.S. bases, including Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.

I will try to make updates as more information is available.

-reported by CiQuat

Edit:

Note: Please keep this thread a-political.

Copied from post below:

Official BRAC Recommendations (PDF) (Source: DoD - http://www.defenselink.mil/brac)

Edited May 13, 2005 by CiQuat

[ecotrojan]

;) gotta pay for Iraq somehow

[CiQuat]

I will try to keep the list of confirmed closures updated in the first post. More info as it becomes available.

And, as I stated above, please try to keep this thread a-political. Whether or not you support the US's military decisions, the BRAC affects hundreds of thousands to millions of people as jobs or lost or gained based on closures and realignments. The majority of the people I associate with would have lost their jobs if SAFB were to close. Now Scott stands to gain more employment capacity as I expect them to pick up many new duties from the closing bases.

[joseph-]

It can still takes years for a base to actually close once it's on the projected closure list.

The probability of Scott ever closing is *highly* unlikely. It's quite a high-profile base. As a matter of fact, that's the base I enlisted and entered into the AF from.

[CiQuat]

The Department of Defense will hold a press briefing Friday, May 13, at 10:30 a.m. EDT to announce Secretary Rumsfeld's recommendations. The full closure and realignment list will be available at that time.

[kinetix63 Veteran]

Hmmmmm - I wonder if Area 51 will appear on the list... :alien: :ninja:

[CiQuat]

It can still takes years for a base to actually close once it's on the projected closure list.

The probability of Scott ever closing is *highly* unlikely.  It's quite a high-profile base.  As a matter of fact, that's the base I enlisted and entered into the AF from.

585913436[/snapback]

That is true. If the list as it stands right now is approved, starting in 2006 the affected installations will be closing or realigning in a process that could take up to 6 years. It's a lot of work to move that much equipment and people while making room for them at the receiving base.

But it's still a disheartening and sometimes crippling blow to the surrounding community that's built itself up around the base. For example, Ellsworth Air Force Base of South Dakota is that state's 2nd largest employer. The entire state will feel that hit when Ellsworth finally locks its gates.

I feel sorry for those individuals, but I'm really looking forward to the additional employment opportunities in my area since SAFB is less than 10 miles from my home and I am a military contractor.

[eye_see_you]

I have a copy of the full BRAC list ( I'm DOD of course) .. It will close in the re alignment phase thats coming up. BUt alot of other places are being shut down

[CiQuat]

I finally have a copy of the BRAC recommendations, found on MSNBC.

BRAC Recommendations (PDF)

[CiQuat]

I have a copy of the full BRAC list  ( I'm DOD of course) .. It will close in the re alignment phase thats coming up. BUt alot of other places are being shut down

585913484[/snapback]

Um, I believe you are mistaken. SAFB will gain through realignment, to the tune of almost 800 positions gained.

[eye_see_you]

OOPs yes you are right.. I was glancing at it again.. its still sad to see so many closed for all the wrong reasons and some right reasons

[eye_see_you]

I finally have a copy of the BRAC recommendations, found on MSNBC.

BRAC Recommendations (PDF)

585913515[/snapback]

I noticed some of that info is not accurate according to the e-mail we were just blasted here ..

[CiQuat]

I noticed some of that info is not accurate according to the e-mail we were just blasted here ..

585913548[/snapback]

Thanks for letting me know. I'll keep my eyes open for a confirmed correct public list and I'll post that when it becomes available (probably from the BRAC official site http://www.defenselink.mil/brac/). Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to confirm or deny the information I'm given right now - just re-reporting what other news organizations have noted or what I have heard personally.

[CiQuat]

More news in Illinois concerning the BRAC:

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

By Mike Ramsey

Copley News Service

CHICAGO - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan threatened Tuesday to sue the federal government if Air National Guard units in Springfield or Peoria are on a final list of recommended military shutdowns later this year.

Madigan said her office has determined that federal law obligates the Defense Department to get permission from a governor when closing a National Guard base within that executive's state.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich and members of the Illinois congressional delegation, including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Springfield Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Peoria, raised the legal argument earlier this year. Madigan's office was asked to issue an opinion.

"Federal law is clear: no National Guard base closures without the consent of the governor," Madigan said in a news release. "As attorney general, I will seek to uphold this law and protect these bases should it become necessary."

The Pentagon is expected Friday to recommend several bases for closure as part of a national military reorganization. Illinois officials have worried the Defense Department preferences could include shutting down the 183rd Fighter Wing at Springfield's Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport or the 182nd Airlift Wing at Greater Peoria Regional Airport.

If one or both of the central Illinois Guard units are targeted, the attorney general would not immediately file a federal lawsuit, Madigan spokeswoman Melissa Merz said. Instead, Madigan would wait for the Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) to screen the Pentagon's list and issue a final report, Merz said.

The independent panel is expected to send a report to the president no later than Sept. 8. If Illinois files a lawsuit at that point, it would name the Defense Department and BRAC as defendants, Merz said.

"I hope the Department of Defense will follow clear federal law on this matter, but it's reassuring to know that our Illinois attorney general is ready to act if any unlawful closures are proposed," Durbin said in a written statement.

Pentagon officials have disagreed that the federal government needs state permission to close or move a National Guard unit.

A third Air Guard site in Illinois, at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, isn't covered under the attorney general's opinion because Scott is considered an active-duty military base, Madigan's office said.

Source: PJStart.com

[eye_see_you]

let me see whats classified information and releasable for public information and I will post up a list of what we have circulating within DOD

[CiQuat]

let me see whats classified information and releasable for public information and I will post up a list of what we have circulating within DOD

585913623[/snapback]

Supposedly the list will be made public shortly (last I heard was around 11am EDT, which has since passed), so don't worry about trying to filter your info for public release. It'd sure be a waste for you to get that done just moments after the DoD official release were to occur. :)

[eye_see_you]

I am DOD .. LOL and what the public gets is not always the full information I can really tell you that after my year of Iraq I just recently made it back from

[CiQuat]

I am DOD .. LOL and what the public gets is not always the full information I can really tell you that after my year of Iraq I just recently made it back from

585913692[/snapback]

I'm sorry. I didn't mean that as a personal knock - I meant I wanted the "official" release by DoD. Yours would technically be a DoD release, but not the official one. And I don't disagree with you about the disconnect between public release and the full info - I have a security clearance that has allowed me to learn things that have made me ill by knowing the truth... Unfortunately in this case, I didn't have the need-to-know to access the list ahead of its public release (and I honestly wish I hadn't had the need to know the other stuff I've learned).

Speaking of official releases, the list has been made available to the public by DoD - which, at a quick glance, looks very much like the MSNBC release:

BRAC Recommendations (PDF) (Source: DoD - http://www.defenselink.mil/brac)

[Jim K Global Moderator]

I'm stationed at Wilford Hall Medical Center. We are going from a level 1 trauma center to a "super" clinic. I probably will not be affected much due to my career field...but we will lose a bunch of people. We just got re-verified in August '04 as a level 1 trauma center (one of 3 in San Antonio).

It is the 3rd hospital I've been at when they have made these cuts (Maxwell and Barksdale were the others).

In a way I'm surprised they are going to cut us back...since we are the largest medical center (and only Level 1 Trauma Center) in the Air Force. On the other hand...I'm not surprised since we have a large Army hospital in the same city.

[Aaron Veteran]

I'm stationed at Wilford Hall Medical Center.  We are going from a level 1 trauma center to a "super" clinic.  I probably will not be affected much due to my career field...but we will lose a bunch of people.  We just got re-verified in August '04 as a level 1 trauma center (one of 3 in San Antonio).

It is the 3rd hospital I've been at when they have made these cuts (Maxwell and Barksdale were the others).

In a way I'm surprised they are going to cut us back...since we are the largest medical center (and only Level 1 Trauma Center) in the Air Force.  On the other hand...I'm not surprised since we have a large Army hospital in the same city.

585915822[/snapback]

Big Willie! I was born there!

Here in GA we are losing three installments - one marine, and two navy I believe, but the big base where I live is safe.

[Zoneblitz61]

I'll probably get flamed for this...

But it is sad that civilians lose their jobs when bases close, but usually civilians that work with the military make a hell of a lot more money than the soldiers do. When I was at an Army radio school, my instructor was telling me how civilian instructors make like 43k from teaching Soldiers where as Soldier instructors only make what their pay grade is, but I also realize a lot of civilian stores go outta business, but from most of the bases I've been too theres a lot of tattoo parlors, barber shops, and strip clubs right outside of them, and theres also a strong distaste for Soldiers from the locals that live in these towns right outside of military installations, not to say that some Soldiers don't deserve the stereotyping

[Aaron Veteran]

I'll probably get flamed for this...

But it is sad that civilians lose their jobs when bases close, but usually civilians that work with the military make a hell of a lot more money than the soldiers do.  When I was at an Army radio school, my instructor was telling me how civilian instructors make like 43k from teaching Soldiers where as Soldier instructors only make what their pay grade is, but I also realize a lot of civilian stores go outta business, but from most of the bases  I've been too theres a lot of tattoo parlors, barber shops, and strip clubs right outside of them, and theres also a strong distaste for Soldiers from the locals that live in these towns right outside of military installations, not to say that some Soldiers don't deserve the stereotyping

585916519[/snapback]

Well, possibly my town is the exception to your rule, but we love the base and all the military personnel. True it is very good for civilians to work on the base, it is a kind of career goal for many. Once you get a civil service job you are good for life. basically. But, the soldiers also get a lot of subisidies that contractors don't like housing allowances and medical care (as good as it may be).

I know my town would be devastated if our base closed.

[CiQuat]

I'll probably get flamed for this...

But it is sad that civilians lose their jobs when bases close, but usually civilians that work with the military make a hell of a lot more money than the soldiers do.  When I was at an Army radio school, my instructor was telling me how civilian instructors make like 43k from teaching Soldiers where as Soldier instructors only make what their pay grade is, but I also realize a lot of civilian stores go outta business, but from most of the bases  I've been too theres a lot of tattoo parlors, barber shops, and strip clubs right outside of them, and theres also a strong distaste for Soldiers from the locals that live in these towns right outside of military installations, not to say that some Soldiers don't deserve the stereotyping

585916519[/snapback]

It may also have to do with which branch of the military the base serves. I used to live near an Army base and the sentiment you related was the same. We didn't care much for the soldiers when they came into town - especially since it seems they just were out to cause trouble.

Here, I live near an Air Force base and the soldiers are very welcomed here. Our town is clean and growing. We don't have large areas of seedy behavior, and next to no such problems near or on the base. Half of the people I go to church with (approx 800) work on the base and half of those are soldiers and their families stationed there. The soldiers don't "come into town" around here, they're part of the community already. I guess that's the biggest difference of all.