“Current arrangements pretty much designed for the Cold War must give way to the new demands of war against extremists and other evolving 21st century challenges,” said Rumsfeld. Of the criteria for the closings, he said, “military judgments have played the key role from the outset, and properly so. In a time of war, whenever we can find ways to increase support for military needs to help the warfighters, we should do no less.”

The defense secretary also recommended a list of dozens of other domestic military installations, including 29 major bases, that will remain open but with thousands fewer troops. Overall, the proposal will eliminate 218,570 military and civilian positions at U.S. bases while adding 189,565 positions to others, for a net reduction of 29,000 jobs. The closures and downsizing would occur over six years starting in 2006.

To go into effect, the Pentagon’s proposal must be approved by the Defense Department’s Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) by September 8, and then agreed to by Congress and the White House.

Proposals on base closings, as well as cutbacks in weapons systems produced by U.S. war manufacturers, are particularly sensitive pork-barrel issues. This latest proposal is generating vocal opposition among both Democratic and Republican politicians, far greater than any response to closings of U.S. installations abroad.

In Texas, for example, Republican governor Richard Perry has ordered the creation of a BRAC Response Strike Force to develop a plan of action to respond to the Pentagon’s proposal to close four major military bases in Texas and realign six others, even though Rumsfeld’s proposals actually result in a net gain of 9,000 personnel in Texas.

Describing these facilities as “essential assets in the War on Terror,” Perry asserted that “the State of Texas is prepared to make every effort to keep these bases open.” Texas has 18 major military installations that employ 230,000 soldiers and civilians. Texas officials said the bases generate about $43 billion a year in funds for the state.

Among the biggest closures being projected is the submarine base in New London, Connecticut, which eliminates more than 7,000 military jobs and nearly 1,000 civilian ones. Also closing would be the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine, affecting 4,000 civilian and 200 military positions.

Rumsfeld said more U.S. bases were on the chopping block, but the Pentagon scaled back its initially proposed closings in part to accommodate the tens of thousands of U.S. troops and their families returning from Germany.

The domestic closures are part of a package together with plans to close 35 percent of U.S. bases and installations abroad over the coming decade.

Instead of stationing large numbers of U.S. troops and their families at bases abroad, the Pentagon is negotiating with more governments to establish smaller “Forward Operating Sites,” sometimes referred to as “lily pads,” and others called “Cooperative Security Locations.” These bases are designed to be maintained by a smaller, regularly rotated force--unencumbered by family members--that can be expanded quickly when the U.S. rulers choose.

At the same time, Washington is moving to transform the U.S. military into a more rapidly deployable force. By 2010 they have set a goal of being able to deploy a full brigade anywhere in the world in 96 hours, a full division within 120 hours, and five divisions (some 75,000 troops) within 30 days.

One area where the Pentagon is seeking to secure new forward operating bases and training arrangements is Eastern Europe, from which troops can be deployed to the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea region, and parts of the Middle East with greater ease than the large permanent bases in Germany.

“Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy members already train periodically in countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, and the Republic of Georgia,” stated an article in the May 16 Army Times. “The U.S. Army hopes to eventually establish an Eastern European Task Force—a headquarters of about 100 permanently assigned personnel—to oversee the rotation of troops throughout the region.”

While it has not been decided where to locate the Eastern European Task Force, the governments of both Bulgaria and Romania have expressed a strong interest in hosting it.

Any permanent U.S. presence in Eastern Europe would have to take place in a NATO country, Air Force Gen. Charles Wald, deputy chief of the U.S. European Command, told the Army Times. The current East European members of NATO are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.  
 
 
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