Acting Deputy Secretary England Authorizes Release of BRAC Info

In a letter to Anthony J. Principi, BRAC committee chairman, acting Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said the department opened the reading room in Suite 700 of the Polk Building in Crystal City, Arlington, Va. The room is open to the BRAC commission, members of Congress and their staffs with "secret" security clearance. Hours of operation are from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. The department also is working with the House and Senate to set up secure reading rooms on Capitol Hill, officials said.

On May 13, defense officials released a list of recommended closures and realignments, a summary of the selection process and a justification for each recommendation. The department also provided the classified force-structure plan, reports by the military departments and the joint cross-service groups, and other related documents.

The balance of the department's BRAC information supporting the department's recommendations will be available in the secure reading room. This includes minutes from the two senior oversight groups, Infrastructure Executive Council and Infrastructure Steering Group, and minutes from the joint cross-service groups and the military departments. Data collected to support capacity, military value and scenario development and analyses also will be provided, along with BRAC process guidance memoranda.

Defense officials are continuing to "assess the security and operational security implications of the information in these reading rooms and segregate out any sensitive or classified information to allow the department to declassify the vast majority of this database by the end of this week," England said.