Posts Tagged ‘secretary of defense’

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week assured Alaska Sen. Mark Begich that the Pentagon would provide its rationale for its proposal to relocate a squadron of F-16s from Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. Begich had asked the Air Force for the justification it relied on since officials included the realignment in the force structure changes they announced in February …

House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon forcefully defended the changes his panel made to the administration’s budget request in completing the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta criticized the House for flouting the spending caps imposed by last August’s Budget Control Act. “In your criticism of my proposal for the department’s FY13 authorization bill, you are clearly operating under some misconceptions …

Secretary Panetta participated last week in a roundtable discussion hosted by the Defense Communities Caucus, addressing the possibility of new BRAC rounds and their potential impacts on defense communities. Nineteen members of the House attended the discussion, which also provided attendees with a forum to discuss the challenges and shortcomings of past base closure rounds with Panetta …

Secretary Panetta last week said major installations should be closed only through the BRAC process, a statement that should ease communities’ concerns about the department’s intentions to shutter bases if Congress does not authorize new base closure rounds. “There is some de minimis closures that we have the right to do under the law, but my view is that for the kind of major installation, that ought to be done through the BRAC process …

At last week’s hearing of the House Armed Services Committee on the fiscal 2013 budget request, the topic of BRAC came up often, with lawmakers questioning the rationale behind the Pentagon’s proposal for two more rounds a common refrain. A comment from Rep. Mac Thornberry was typical: “The 2005 round of BRAC will not even break even until 2018, according to GAO …

The Huntsville region has prospered in the two previous BRAC rounds and local officials view the possibility of another round as more of an opportunity than a reason for concern, reports the Huntsville Times. While it’s still not clear if or when Congress will approve new base closure rounds, Joe Ritch, chairman of the Tennessee Valley BRAC Commission, told the Times that the region never stopped preparing for additional rounds …

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle said they oppose holding another round of base closures, as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta proposed last week, with most highlighting the need to assess the nation’s overseas basing before launching a new BRAC. The joint statement released by the Senate delegations for Maine and New Hampshire was typical: “The department is in the midst of decisions on our posture overseas, including the possibility of withdrawing forces and closing bases in Europe …

Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin said Thursday that the Pentagon’s priority should be culling its bases in Europe before it moves on to reducing its real estate in the United States. “I have been a strong supporter of BRACs in the past. But I’m not able to support BRAC domestically until we reduce bases in particular in Europe …

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will outline a $525 billion fiscal 2013 budget request Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The request would represent a $6 billion decline from the current year’s baseline spending, and a $51 billion drop from a previous budget projection …

The White House will unveil its fiscal 2013 budget request Feb. 13, one week later than is required by law, according to an Obama administration official. An early preview of DOD’s budget request is expected this week, however. Secretary Leon Panetta reportedly will offer some details of the Pentagon’s spending plan Thursday, according to the Hill newspaper …