Last week, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel revealed that the Pentagon’s 2015 budget submission to Congress will include a request for another round of Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, in 2017.
“We cannot fully achieve our goals for overhead reductions without cutting unnecessary and costly infrastructure,” Hagel said
In 2004, the DoD estimated it had 25 percent excess infrastructure and BRAC 2005 only reduced about 3 percent of that excess. Since then, the military has gotten smaller so it makes sense that the amount of excess infrastructure has increased.
However, the past two BRAC requests have been denied by Congress so the DoD may find itself trying to reduce overhead without the BRAC tool. There is a lot of speculation as to why the requests have been denied, but two points stand out above the rest – a duty to protect their districts and a negative view of BRAC 2005.
Elected officials see it as their responsibility to protect their districts from projects that will spark job loss and decrease the amount of federal money coming in. While some districts would benefit from BRAC, some would suffer. Specific bases targeted for closure have yet to be named so it’s easier to deny the request than take a chance your district would be negatively impacted. What’s more, elected officials tend to want to be re-elected. A negative BRAC outcome could result in a loss of popularity and in turn, a loss of votes.
The second reason there’s been push back is because Congress has a negative view of BRAC 2005. Although there have been savings since the completion of the project, the upfront costs were much higher than anticipated.
The big question is will another round of BRAC be approved? And if not, will the DoD start closing bases by itself? According to certain statutes, the DoD has the ability to close bases without approval from Congress.
At this point, it’s too early to tell. More than anything, Congress needs to step it up. If they’re going to force the Pentagon into working with a smaller budget, they should provide the necessary tools to reduce overhead costs as efficiently as possible. If that means closing bases and consolidating units and personnel, then so be it. But don’t ask for a new bookcase and lock up all the tools. Not only is it counterproductive, but it also means budget cuts show up in other areas like retirement benefits and housing allowances.
As for those seeking DoD civilian jobs, it’s a tough time to get hired. The number of DoD personnel is being reduced either through cutbacks at individual headquarters or potentially through BRAC in 2017. Your best bet is to look for installations that are building up their infrastructure and have no indication of closing. For example, Redstone Arsenal has no intention of closing and is looking to bring BRAC projects to the area. When applying for jobs, take a few minutes to research the area. Many local news outlets are already reporting on how their local installation is handling the BRAC speculation. It’s better to know upfront if a place you’d like to work may end up with a target on its back.
Then again, if this request is like the last two you may have nothing to worry about at all.
