Posts Tagged ‘BRAC’

Leaders in northeastern Maryland and the surrounding region believe a new transportation center opening this week at Aberdeen Proving Ground will help make a dent in traffic congestion at the post by reducing workers’ reliance on single-occupant vehicles. The APG-Chesapeake Science & Security Corridor Transportation Center’s primary goal will be to encourage military and civilian employees of the post’s 90 tenant organizations and nearby defense contractors to consider alternative commuting options, including commuter rail, a private bus line providing service to New Jersey, car and vanpools, and the Guaranteed Ride Home Program …

A hearing by the House Armed Services’ Readiness Subcommittee this week will provide the first opportunity for the Pentagon and defense communities to see if the mood on Capitol Hill has changed when it comes to granting DOD’s looming request for new base closure rounds. The Obama administration has not yet requested the new rounds yet — it doesn’t plan to deliver its fiscal 2014 budget request until April — but last month then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta revealed that the department would request a new round of base closures as part of its budget proposal …

Statutory changes to the BRAC statute could improve congressional oversight of a future base closure round and provide greater assurances that projected costs and savings from specific recommendations are realized, according to a new study by the Government Accountability Office. The primary objective of BRAC 2005 was not eliminating excess capacity, but rather transforming the military by realigning base structure to better meet the needs of force structure while fostering jointness among the services. As a result, many recommendations were not expected to produce 20-year net savings, the report found …

Construction of a health clinic and columbarium by the Department of Veterans Affairs at the former Naval Air Station Alameda will save the city of Alameda $12.5 million in infrastructure costs. The savings will come when the VA builds several roadways and installs water, gas and other utilities for its project at Alameda Point, reported InsideBayArea.com. The city may use the savings to construct a sports complex or to pay for other redevelopment at the former base located on San Francisco Bay. The VA is slated to receive 115 acres at the site; a separate 512-acre parcel will be turned into a refuge for the California least tern.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell reconstituted the state’s Military Installations and Defense Activities Commission last Friday in response to the start of sequestration which is slated to trim $40-plus billion from defense spending before the end of the fiscal year. The panel will be responsible for assessing the impact on Virginia of the sequester as well as future BRAC activities, and offering recommendations to address those actions …

Actions required to complete base closures, including cleanup activities, could be delayed as the Army faces a funding shortfall in fiscal 2013 due to the sequester, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno told lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Delays in completing documents, permits, policy approvals, contracts and other actions are expected due to civilian furloughs and reductions to the contractor personnel who oversee and carry out the BRAC program, Odierno stated in the written testimony he submitted to the House Military Construction-Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee …

While Air Force officials have said over the past year they have a substantial amount of excess infrastructure that a new base closure round could address, the Army hasn’t been as clear about its interest in a new BRAC round. According to written testimony from Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army would benefit from a new round as well, primarily due to reductions in the service’s end strength slated to occur over the next several years …

The House introduced a spending measure Monday that would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year while restoring some of the military’s operations and maintenance funding shortfall that has prompted the services to drastically curtail spending on readiness activities through the end of fiscal 2013. The legislation — which includes individual appropriation bills for defense and military construction-veterans affairs along with a continuing resolution for the remainder of the government — would shift $10.4 billion into DOD’s operations and maintenance accounts to fund priorities such as training, weapons maintenance, civilian personnel and the defense health program that would be threatened under a full-year continuing resolution …

The Defense Department will ask Congress to hold BRAC rounds in 2015 and 2017 as part of its fiscal 2014 budget request, according to comments made by defense officials at a meeting this week of the Council of Governors. Last month then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta revealed to reporters that the department would request a new round of base closures, but didn’t specify whether the department would ask for two rounds as it did last year. “We will have to because … you can’t have a huge infrastructure supporting a reduced force,” Panetta said at the time. Congress roundly rejected last year’s proposal for base closure rounds in 2013 and 2015. Read the story in Politico.

The chief of Air Combat Command said last week he would like to close “every third base” under his responsibility to streamline the service’s excess infrastructure and eliminate inefficient spending. And to make it more likely that Congress goes along with the Pentagon’s request for a new round of BRAC, Gen. Mike Hostage, chief of Air Combat Command, suggested the department reverse the methodology used for selecting bases to close …