Posts Tagged ‘mission support/community partnerships’

In light of recent reports describing questionable expenditures on overseas military bases, the Pentagon needs to curtail spending on those facilities before reviewing its domestic infrastructure, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) said in explaining the amendment he sponsored last week during the Senate Armed Services Committee’s consideration of the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill. “It is essential that we ensure our nation’s spending on military bases is prioritized appropriately …

The Defense Department is conducting three studies to find sites that can accommodate the shift of 2,700 Marines from Okinawa, Japan, to Oahu, a move that may not be completed until 2026. The department said it is carrying out a Marine Corps Base Hawaii optimization study examining existing Kaneohe Bay land, a land use study looking at defense facilities on the island and a third study assessing former defense property in the Kalaeloa area …

Communities and states affected by significant cutbacks in DOD spending, including impacts caused by reduced operations at contractor-operated defense facilities, can apply for community planning assistance from the Office of Economic Adjustment to help them respond. Eligible impacts, according to the June 17 Federal Register notice, include: a publicly announced planned major reduction in DOD spending; the closure or significantly reduced operations of a defense facility as the result of the merger, acquisition or consolidation of the defense contractor operating the defense facility; the cancellation or termination of a DOD contract; or the failure to proceed with an approved major weapon system program …

An amendment to the House’s fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill would require the Pentagon to consider the monetary value of services provided to an installation by its host community before making realignment or closure decisions. When making such decisions, the provision requires the secretary of defense to account for “the value of services, such as schools, libraries, and utilities, as well as land, structures, and access to infrastructure, such as airports and seaports, that are provided by the local community to the military installation and that result in cost savings for the armed forces …

Following last November’s approval by Colorado voters to legalize recreational possession of marijuana, the city council of Colorado Springs is weighing the concerns of the area’s military leaders as it considers allowing retail sales of the drug. Maj. Gen. Paul LaCamera, commander of Fort Carson and the 4th Infantry Division, has told local officials that the sale of recreational pot raises serious concerns for the Army, reports the Gazette. “I told the [Colorado Springs] mayor, it goes against good order and discipline …

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s vote Thursday to approve a defense authorization bill that rejected the Obama administration’s request for a BRAC round in 2015 likely spells the end of the debate this year on Capitol Hill over the possibility of scheduling additional base closures. While the measure still needs to be debated on the Senate floor, even in the unlikely event an amendment authorizing a new round were to pass at that stage, without support from the Senate Armed Services Committee leadership, such a provision would have virtually no chance of surviving a House-Senate conference …

The panelists assembled Friday for the Defense Policy Town Hall at the Defense Communities National Summit all agreed that DOD urgently needs to close excess bases and facilities as part of an effort to reform its spending, but were less certain as to when Congress would go along with the suggestion. “I wouldn’t say there is an air of inevitability,” said Mackenzie Eaglen, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute …

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday approved language blocking the Pentagon from launching a BRAC round, before completing consideration of the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill. The amendment reportedly would lift the ban after DOD finishes an assessment of excess infrastructure at its overseas bases, according to the Hill. Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) described the amendment at a news conference after his panel approved the bill by a 23-3 vote …

The Clover Park School District of Lakewood, Wash., will receive three grants totaling $90.8 million from DOD to demolish and replace three elementary schools on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the department announced last week. Project funding to replace the three schools, which will serve a combined 1,550 students in grades pre-kindergarten through fifth, also includes a non-federal share of $23.1 million …

Installation funding is bearing the brunt of the impact from the automatic spending cuts triggered under sequestration in fiscal 2013, forcing the services to skimp on facilities sustainment and slash base operating support budgets, according to the military’s top installation officials. The three services have been deferring virtually all non-emergency maintenance — funded under the sustainment, restoration and modernization account — at their installations. Base operating support has been cut drastically as well, with the Navy slicing that account by more than 50 percent …