Homespun Bloggers Symposium XXII

This weeks topic at Homespun Bloggers is about BRAC.

And now, without further ado, here’s the question for Homespun Blogger Symposium XXII:

Within the past two weeks, the Secretary of Defense released the list of US bases to be realigned or closed starting in 2006. While we’re still months away from seeing the final list, what do you think about the whole Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process?

Do you think that it’s fairly administered?

Do you think it’s necessary?

Do you think that the politicians with constituents impacted by BRAC are doing enough or too much to alter the process?

How is your community impacted by the initial results of the BRAC as we know them today?

If you were the President and had your way (outside the current rules of the BRAC process), how would you change or implement this current round of BRAC?

I'll add your links as you send them to me via e-mail...provided Blogger plays ball with us.

If you've been lurking and reading the Symposium responses in the past...why not try and participate?

See you on the high ground.

MajorDad1984

I had two previous posts on this. The first is listed below:


Saturday, May 14, 2005
BRAC - Keesler Medical to become clinic
In an update to my post BRAC Recommendations for Coastal MS most of the jobs slated to be lost at Keesler are in the medical center. I don't see how they can do this. It had been announced recently that the VA hospital in Gulfport would be closing because of the proximity to Keesler Medical Center. There are a lot of retirees in the community that use Keesler Medical Center. How many people will be impacted if this alignment goes through? The following is from the Keesler Air Force Base website:

Host to the second largest Air Force medical treatment facility in the U.S., the Keesler Medical Center contains a 235-bed multi-specialty facility, 62 outpatient clinics, a clinical research laboratory and aero medical facilities. The Keesler Medical Center serves Air Force, Army and Navy bases in the southeastern region of the United States, as well as 56,000 beneficiaries locally. The Keesler Medical Center also brokers healthcare to nearly 600,000 beneficiaries in the Department of Defense Service Region IV, covering all of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and parts of Louisiana and Florida.


Also from the same webite, there are currently 4,500 active duty at Keesler and from Military.com, the CB base in Gulfport has approxiamately 4200 active duty service men.


These totals do not include family members of active duty personnel. Representative Gene Taylor who is on the House Armed Forces Committee, sharply criticized the proposed realignment of Keesler Medical Center. He stated in the Sun Herald:


"If these changes to the mission at Keesler are implemented, it will be a major blow to military personnel, dependents and retirees in South Mississippi," Taylor said. "Rather than receiving the free health care that our airmen and veterans were promised, they would have the additional expense of paying for a portion of their care at nearby civilian hospitals."


From Senator Trent Lott:


Pascagoula is a new, unique, magnificent facility which unfortunately is not multi-missioned. I’m optimistic that as we go through this process, its huge value will be recognized, and other missions ultimately will be added to Pascagoula. The 186th Air Refueling Wing at Key Field, Meridian, is one of the highest ranked tanker facilities in the country, and I’m optimistic that the value of its mission will permit it to continue in Meridian.


Let the battles begin.


The second deals in more detail Representative Gene Taylor's amendment that was approved by the House Armed Forces committee.

An excerpt:

Representative Gene Taylor, who is the Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Projection Forces Subcommittee, proposed an amendment to the FY2006 National Defense Authorization Act that would require an evaluation of the full costs and effects of the changes to the military health care system recommended by the Department of Defense.

The amendment would instruct the Government Accountability Office to calculate the out-pocket expenses that would be incurred by active duty service members, military retirees, and their dependents if forced to rely on civilian facilities for health care.

It further instructs the GAO to assess and itemize the total costs that would be shifted to Tricare, and other agencies of federal, state and local governments.


It also asks the GAO to consider the effects of BRAC proposals on retention and recruitment of military medical personnel.

The GAO is further required to separate and estimate the savings or costs from reducing the number of personnel from the savings or costs that will come from infrastructure, facilities, and any other aspects of closure or realignment.

representative Taylor states:

"Now, I'm looking at numbers for the 2005 BRAC that just don't add up. There are no cuts in end strength or force numbers, but there are billions of dollars slated for new construction when troops are forced to relocate. It's my responsibility to demand honest answers from an impartial source, without the smoke and mirrors I get from the Pentagon"


This amendment received the support of House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-CA)and was passed in Committee by a voice vote. It will now be included in the FY2006 National Defense Authorization Act, which the full House will consider next week.

Representative Gene Taylor and Senator Trent Lott avidly oppose the BRAC recommendations. Representative Taylor has been proposing that BRAC be discontinued since it first came into being. The problems I have with BRAC, is that this round is proposing too many base closures. With the proposed closings in Europe, the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, now is not the time to be closing bases. The realignment of Keesler Medical Center to clinic will severly impact the Gulf Coast. Both Senator Lott and Representative Taylor are fighting these recommendations tooth and nail. They have always prevailed in the past and should continue to do so in the future.

Other bloggers who have posted:
CrosSwords
Crossblogging(formerly known as XBIP)