DoD Asks Commanders for Data as 2005 BRAC Process Begins

The fiscal 2002 National Defense Authorization Act authorized DoD to pursue one BRAC round in 2005. The department will use BRAC to eliminate unnecessary infrastructure and to increase military capability and effectiveness, officials said.

Formal data calls, said officials, ensure the department collects and uses the most current data on installations throughout the BRAC analysis. This data call is one of many steps in the BRAC process, officials explained. Others will be added as needed.

Since each installation will take part in these data calls, officials emphasized that does not mean DoD is considering that installation for closure or realignment. Questions and data associated with the questions will be available to the public once the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission receives them.

The department published draft selection criteria in the Dec. 23 Federal Register for public comment. Comments are due by Jan. 28. The list of BRAC recommendations will be submitted to the independent BRAC commission by May 16, 2005.

The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-501), as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002, requires that closure and realignment recommendations be based on published criteria that make military value the primary consideration.

Criteria include:

Military Value

• Current and future mission capabilities and the impact on operational readiness of DoD's total force, including the impact on joint warfighting, training and readiness.
• The availability and condition of land, facilities and associated airspace (including training areas suitable for maneuver by ground, naval or air forces throughout a diversity of climate and terrain areas and staging areas for the use of the armed forces in homeland defense missions) at both existing and potential receiving locations.
• The ability to accommodate contingency, mobilization, and future total force requirements at both existing and potential receiving locations to support operations and training.
• The cost of operations and the manpower implications.

Other Considerations

• The extent and timing of potential costs and savings, including the number of years, beginning with the date of completion of the closure or realignment, for the savings to exceed the costs.
• The economic impact on existing communities in the vicinity of military installations.
• The ability of both the existing and potential receiving communities' infrastructure to support forces, missions and personnel.
• The environmental impact, including the impact of costs related to potential environmental restoration, waste management and environmental compliance activities.