Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)[1][2] was a process[3] by a United States federal government commission[4] to increase the efficiency of the United States Department of Defense by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the end of the Cold War. Over 350 installations have been closed in five BRAC rounds: 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, and 2005. These five BRAC rounds constitute a combined savings of $12 billion annually.[5]
Project 693[10] was established by Defense Secretary Clark Clifford during the Vietnam War for reducing programs and personnel, and the project also closed several military installations.[11]
1969 realignments
The DoD realigned 307 military bases beginning with an announcement in October 1969.[12]
Project Concise eliminated most of the Project Nike missile locations which generally each had two sites, a radar station on an elevated landform for guidance and command/control, and a launch area that had launch rails and stored missiles and warheads. A 1976 follow-on program to Concise closed additional installations.
1983 Grace Commission
The Grace Commission was President Ronald Reagan's "Private Sector Survey" on cost control that concluded that "savings could be made in the military base structure" and recommended establishing an independent commission to study the issue. Public Law 100–526 endorsed the review in October 1988 and authorized the "special commission to recommend base realignments and closures" to the Secretary of Defense and provided relief from NEPA provisions that had hindered the base closure process.[9]: 156
The Defense Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1990 provided "the basic framework for the transfer and disposal of military installations closed during the base realignment and closure (BRAC) process".[3] The process was created in 1988 to reduce pork barrel politics with members of Congress that arise when facilities face activity reductions.[15]
The most recent process began May 13, 2005, when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld forwarded his recommendations for realignments and closures to the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission. The BRAC is an independent nine-member panel appointed by the President. This panel evaluated the list by taking testimony from interested parties and visiting affected bases. The BRAC Commission had the opportunity to add bases to the list and did so in a July 19, 2005, hearing. The Commission met its deadline of September 2005 to provide the evaluated list to the President, who approved the list with the condition that it could only be approved or disapproved in its entirety. On November 7, 2005, the approved list was then given to Congress, who had the opportunity to disapprove the entire list within 45 days by enacting a resolution of disapproval. This did not happen, and the BRAC Commission's recommendations became final.
The Pentagon released its proposed list for the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission on May 13, 2005 (a date given the moniker "BRAC Friday," a punonBlack Friday). After an extensive series of public hearings, analysis of DoD-supplied supporting data, and solicitation of comments from the public, the list of recommendations was revised by the 9-member Defense Base Closure and Realignments Commission in two days of public markups and votes on individual recommendations (the proceedings were broadcast by C-SPAN and are available for review on the network's website). The Commission submitted its revised list to the President on September 8, 2005. The President approved the list and notified Congress on September 15. The House of Representatives took up a joint resolution to disapprove the recommendations on October 26, but the resolution failed to pass. The recommendations were thereby enacted. The Secretary of Defense must implement the recommendations no later than September 15, 2011.
The 2005 Commission recommended that Congress authorize another BRAC round in 2015 and every eight years thereafter.[21] On May 10, 2012, the House Armed Services Committee rejected calls by the Pentagon for base closures outside of a 2015 round by a 44 to 18 vote.[22] Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had called for two rounds of base closures while at the same time arguing that the alternative of the sequester would be a "meat-ax" approach to cuts which would "hollow out" military forces.[23]
In May 2014, it was attempted to fund another round of BRAC, although funding was not approved in a vote in May of that year.[25]
In March 2015, the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment addressed the possibility of a future BRAC, indicating that the DOD, Defense Secretary Ash Carter was requesting authority to conduct another BRAC.[26]
In September 2015, at the tenth anniversary of the end of the most recent BRAC commission report, its former chairman Anthony Principi wrote, "Now is the time to do what's right for our men and women in uniform. Spending dollars on infrastructure that does not serve their needs is inexcusable."[27]
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2017)
The following is a chronological timeline of authorizations for U.S. Congressional legislation related to U.S. defense installation realignments and military base closures.
^ abc"Highlands Radar Site Closing"(PDF). The Daily Register. Red Bank, New Jersey. November 20, 1964. Archived from the original(PDF) on April 25, 2012. Retrieved October 12, 2011. McNamara Firm on Base Shutdowns … Temporary Team … Highlands Air Force Station … personnel will be inactivated by July 1966, leaving Army radar unit at base intact
^ abcdShaw, Frederick J., ed. (2004). Locating Air Force Base Sites: History's Legacy (Report). Vol. AFD-100928-010. Air Force History and Museums Program. The passage in October 1988 of Public Law 100–526 removed certain restrictive provisions of the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and allowed the first round of domestic base closings in nearly a decade. ...
^Drea, Edward J. (1984). McNamara, Clifford, and the Burdens of Vietnam 1965-1969(PDF) (Report). Vol. VI, Secretaries of Defense Historical Series. Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense. ISBN978-0-16-088135-0. Archived from the original(PDF) on October 29, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013. the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command, denominated a specified command because, although part of the Air Force, it came under the operational control of the JCS.24 Clifford had appointed a group known as Project 693 to determine which programs to sacrifice when necessary.65 ... McNamara test, January 25 66, House Subcte No 2, HCAS, Hearing: Department of Defense Decision to Reduce the Number and Types of Manned Bombers in the Strategic Air Command, 6084.
^Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States)113–66 (text)(PDF): National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Sec. 2711; page 334; 127 Stat.1004)
^Anthony J. Principi (September 3, 2015). "Time for a new BRAC". The Hill. Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
