List of Proposed Military Base Closings

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Base-Closings-List.html

just the states and names...

Have to be a member...

it's free.

I don't like having to register to read the news.

Simple.

but don't whine about it if someone posts a link to a major newspaper that's free to access.

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mediajunkie/mediajunkie. Use it for both.

www.bugmenot.com

Looks like Naval facilities are taking a major hit, from what I can see.

of the military and military contractors. I am sure they will out source it all to China or some such.

pocatello idaho and evansville indiana for instance- "Navy" isn't the first word that comes to mind.

Illinois ducked a bullet, it appears. I don't know enough about bases to figure out if this is reasonable. It does appear that the few big hits were in blue states, but not to a ridiculous degree.

whatcha gunno do bout that Saxby? You lick bushes ass and you get shit!



Georgia:

Fort Gillem

Fort McPherson

Inspector/Instructor, Rome

Naval Air Station Atlanta

Naval Supply Corps School, Athens

U.S. Army Reserve Center, Columbus

http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=60555

Georgia lawmakers say protecting bases is about missions, not clout

The Associated Press - WASHINGTON

No Sam Nunn. No Carl Vinson. No Newt Gingrich. What will happen to Georgia's military bases now?

Probably the same thing that would happen if those three congressional legends were still around, say the new crop of Georgia lawmakers _ many of whom are growing tired of the constant comparisons to their predecessors.


,,more at link..

I read on another thread. There are bases being enlarged because of the other closings.

There are only two active duty Army bases on that whole list, both in metro Atlanta.
Punishing Shirley Franklin for being a good Dem?

I knew there had to be a catch somewhere. Everything these people do is political. I did see where the naval base in Lott's district is being eliminated. I wonder how helmut head will take that? Doesn't he have some boondoggle of a porkbarrel project going on there?

He is dead to them.

and across the street from Dobbins. Well, the only good thing by the Air Station closing is the sky will be a little quieter.

Alabama:

Abbott U.S. Army Reserve Center, Tuskegee

Anderson U.S. Army Reserve Center, Troy

Armed Forces Reserve Center, Mobile

BG William P. Screws U.S. Army Reserve Center, Montgomery

Fort Ganey Army National Guard Reserve Center, Mobile

Fort Hanna Army National Guard Reserve Center, Birmingham

Gary U.S. Army Reserve Center, Enterprise

Navy Recruiting District Headquarters, Montgomery

Navy Reserve Center, Tuscaloosa

The Adjutant General Bldg, AL Army National Guard, Montgomery

Wright U.S. Army Reserve Center

:sarcasm:

And there are other bases nearby that will gain so maybe it won't hurt to badly.

churches in Alabama to prop up the economy!

(note: NOT a slam to my bama DU'ers)

...unfortunately. :-( In a way, it's good for Huntsville if they move those jobs to Redstone Arsenal. Shitty way to get jobs here, however.

In the long run, maybe getting rid of 11 military installations in Bama will be GOOD for the culture there...

It would decimate the economy in the Huntsville area. I work on that base and so do many friends.

Omg, these ppl are schizophrenic (my local news) lol. They were saying Redstone was on it, now not lol. And people wonder what's wrong with Dothan lol!?

is on the hit list. That will mean 25,000 jobs and billions in revenues for the State. But I'm not surprised. Its CT after all.

What a surprise.

:sarcasm:

What do you say now REPUKES?!?!

A smaller military needs fewer bases. We cut the forces in the 90s and so now we finish the job.

said that Clinton GUTTED the military.

n/t

proposed closing the Lonestar Ammo Depot! LOL

we won't have to listen to the repubs complain about how Clinton gutted the military anymore, now that it's their beloved Bush doing it?

alas, we have to wait until FOX news tells them what to say

WASHINGTON — Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery would close and Brunswick Naval Air Station's would lose about half its total active-duty military personnel under a proposal unveiled Friday by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Maine is expected to lose nearly 7,000 military and civilian jobs as a result of the Pentagon's recommendations, making the state among the hardest hit in the nation.

(snip)

"Obviously, this is a stunning and devastating decision," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. "It is a very unwarranted loss and flies in the face of reason, logic, strategic value and it certaily is a blunder of epic proportions, nothing short of a travesty."

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/050513baseclosingslive.shtml

Be like the Bushies: What have you done for me lately?

This is not good - wonder what Rummy has in mind for destroyer/cruiser contracts at Bath Ironworks????

When they said this would be a tsunami, they were right...

from Today's Press Herald...

<snip>

Brunswick's aircraft would be sent to Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida, while keeping an operational airfield in the Northeast that could be used to support homeland defense, according to the Pentagon's recommendation. The move is expected to cost $147 million, but save $238 million over the next 20 years.

<snip>

Florida got off Scott-Free compared to all other states...

Maine's defense dollars will go to Jebbie-boy.

FUCK YOU CHIMP!

With closure, the town of Brunswick would have gotten the land back and been able to develop it and get some use out of it. By leaving a token staff and keeping it open, we lose almost all the jobs AND don't get the land back.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out politically. Will the GOP target Michaud for the loss of jobs in Limestone? Will Snowe be able to use her considerable clout to protect Maine's bases, or will this serve as a shot across the bow from the Neocons to our moderate GOP senators: Get in line or expect more pain.

I was expecting Kittery. I wasn't ready for BNAS to get hit...

really expecting Kittery either especially with the reward they got yesterday.

Pentagon List of Recommended Military Base, Facility Closings
Associated Press
Friday, May 13, 2005


A list obtained by The Associated Press of military facilities the Defense Department recommended for closure Friday:

Alabama
Abbott U.S. Army Reserve Center, Tuskegee
Anderson U.S. Army Reserve Center, Troy
Armed Forces Reserve Center, Mobile
BG William P. Screws U.S. Army Reserve Center, Montgomery
Fort Ganey Army National Guard Reserve Center, Mobile
Fort Hanna Army National Guard Reserve Center, Birmingham
Gary U.S. Army Reserve Center, Enterprise
Navy Recruiting District Headquarters, Montgomery
Navy Reserve Center, Tuscaloosa
The Adjutant General Bldg, AL Army National Guard, Montgomery
Wright U.S. Army Reserve Center

Alaska
Kulis Air Guard Station

Arizona
Air Force Research Lab, Mesa
Allen Hall Armed Forces Reserve Center, Tucson

Arkansas
El Dorado Armed Forces Reserve Center
Stone U.S. Army Reserve Center, Pine Bluff

California
Armed Forces Reserve Center Bell
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Oakland
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, San Bernardino
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, San Diego
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Seaside
Naval Support Activity Corona
Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Detachment Concord
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Encino
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Los Angeles
Onizuka Air Force Station
Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant

Connecticut
Sgt. Libby U.S. Army Reserve Center, New Haven
Submarine Base New London
Turner U.S. Army Reserve Center, Fairfield
U.S. Army Reserve Center Maintenance Support Facility, Middletown

Delaware
Kirkwood U.S. Army Reserve Center, Newark

Florida
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Orlando
Navy Reserve Center, St. Petersburg

Georgia
Fort Gillem
Fort McPherson
Inspector/Instructor, Rome
Naval Air Station Atlanta
Naval Supply Corps School, Athens
U.S. Army Reserve Center, Columbus

Hawaii
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Honokaa

Idaho
Navy Reserve Center, Pocatello

Illinois
Armed Forces Reserve Center, Carbondale
Navy Reserve Center, Forest Park

Indiana
Navy Marine Corps Reserve Center, Grissom Air Reserve Base, Bunker Hill
Navy Recruiting District Headquarters, Indianapolis
Navy Reserve Center, Evansville
Newport Chemical Depot
U.S. Army Reserve Center, Lafayette
U.S. Army Reserve Center, Seston

Iowa
Navy Reserve Center, Cedar Rapids
Navy Reserve Center, Sioux City
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Dubuque

Kansas
Kansas Army Ammunition Plant

Kentucky
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Paducah
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Lexington
Navy Reserve Center, Lexington
U.S. Army Reserve Center, Louisville
U.S. Army Reserve Center, Maysville

Louisiana
Baton Rouge Army National Guard Reserve Center
Naval Support Activity, New Orleans
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Baton Rouge
Roberts U.S. Army Reserve Center, Baton Rouge

Maine
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Limestone
Naval Reserve Center, Bangor
Naval Shipyard Portsmouth

Maryland
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Patuxent River
Navy Reserve Center, Adelphi
Pfc. Flair U.S. Army Reserve Center, Frederick

Massachusetts
Malony U.S. Army Reserve Center
Otis Air Guard Base
Westover U.S. Army Reserve Center, Citopee

Michigan
Navy Reserve Center Marquette
Parisan U.S. Army Reserve Center, Lansing
Selfridge Army Activity
W.K. Kellogg Airport Air Guard Station

Minnesota
Navy Reserve Center Duluth

Mississippi
Mississippi Army Ammunition Plant
Naval Station, Pascagoula
U.S. Army Reserve Center, Vicksburg

Missouri
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Jefferson Barracks
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Kansas City
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, St. Louis
Marine Corps Support Center, Kansas City
Navy Recruiting District Headquarters, Kansas
Navy Reserve Center, Cape Girardeau

Montana
Galt Hall U.S. Army Reserve Center, Great Falls

Nebraska
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Columbus
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Grand Island
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Kearny
Naval Recruiting District Headquarters, Omaha
Navy Reserve Center, Lincoln

Nevada
Hawthorne Army Depot

New Hampshire
Doble U.S. Army Reserve Center, Portsmouth
Naval Shipyard Portsmouth

New Jersey
Fort Monmouth
Inspector/Instructor Center, West Trenton
Kilmer U.S. Army Reserve Center, Edison

New Mexico
Cannon Air Force Base
Jenkins Armed Forces Reserve Center, Albuquerque

New York
Armed Forces Reserve Center, Amityville
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Niagra Falls
Carpenter U.S. Army Reserve Center, Poughkeepsie
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Rome
Navy Recruiting District Headquarters, Buffalo
Navy Reserve Center Glenn Falls
Navy Reserve Center Horsehead
Navy Reserve Center Watertown
Niagra Falls International Airport Air Guard Station

North Carolina
Navy Reserve Center, Asheville
Niven U.S. Army Reserve Center, Albermarle

Ohio
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Mansfield
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Westerville
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Dayton
Mansfield Lahm Municipal Airport Air Guard Station
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Akron
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Cleveland
Parrott U.S. Army Reserve Center, Kenton
U.S. Army Reserve Center, Whitehall

Oklahoma
Armed Forces Reserve Center Broken Arrow
Armed Forces Reserve Center Muskogee
Army National Guard Reserve Center Tishomingo
Krowse U.S. Army Reserve Center, Oklahoma City
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Tulsa
Oklahoma City (95th)

Pennsylvania
Bristol
Engineering Field Activity Northeast
Kelly Support Center
Naval Air Station Willow Grove
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Reading
North Penn U.S. Army Reserve Center, Morristown
Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station
Serrenti U.S. Army Reserve Center, Scranton
U.S. Army Reserve Center Bloomsburg
U.S. Army Reserve Center Lewisburg
U.S. Army Reserve Center Williamsport
W. Reese U.S. Army Reserve Center/OMS, Chester

Puerto Rico
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Humacao
Lavergne U.S. Army Reserve Center, Bayamon

Rhode Island
Harwood U.S. Army Reserve Center, Providence
USARC Bristol

South Carolina
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Charleston
South Naval Facilities Engineering Command

South Dakota
Ellsworth Air Force Base

Tennessee
U.S. Army Reserve Area Maintenance Support Facility, Kingsport

Texas
Army National Guard Reserve Center No. 2, Dallas
Army National Guard Reserve Center (Hondo Pass), El Paso
Army National Guard Reserve Center, California Crossing
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Ellington
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Lufkin
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Marshall
Army National Guard Reserve Center, New Braunfels
Brooks City Base
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, San Antonio
Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant
Naval Station, Ingleside
Navy Reserve Center, Lubbock
Navy Reserve Center, Orange
Red River Army Depot
U.S. Army Reserve Center No. 2, Houston

Utah
Deseret Chemical Depot

Virginia
Fort Monroe

Washington
1LT Richard H. Walker U.S. Army Reserve Center
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Everett
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Tacoma
U.S. Army Reserve Center, Fort Lawton
Vancouver Barracks

West Virginia
Bias U.S. Army Reserve Center, Huntington
Fairmont U.S. Army Reserve Center
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Moundsville

Wisconsin
Gen. Mitchell International Airport ARS
Navy Reserve Center, La Crosse
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Madison
Olson U.S. Army Reserve Center, Madison
U.S. Army Reserve Center, O'Connell

Wyoming
Army Aviation Support Facility, Cheyenne
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Thermopolis
*********************************************************************
Link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/articles/base_list051305.html

Mostly Reserve Centers and Navy facilities.

n/t

didn't even get beyond the A's in the alphabet.

dp

How many job will this cost?

under Daddy Bush.

And will go on until Sikorsky is out of business or forced to sell and relocate to a Red State.

Redstone

I was born on that base.

The land is probably so polluted and contaminated with toxic crap that the Mashantuckets are probably the only ones with enough money to clean it up.

If the base closes, the South Eastern economy is fucked.

But also if it closes Simmons will not get re-elected.

To say I have mixed feelings on this is a gross understatement.

And I agree that getting Simmons out would be a plus.

Redstone

Oh, good. :(

7000 jobs here.

:mad:

It's going to hit SE CT really hard... not only the actual on-base jobs, but all the surrounding 'support' jobs... :(

General Dynamics - Electric Boat is another MAJOR employer, important in its proximity to the sub base. What happens to that? How long before they relocate the Coast Guard Academy? These things are all working fine right now, the location is right, and tons of money has already been invested there over centuries.

31,500 jobs Minamal Counting Suport Jobs and Jobs like Fast Food Joints,and Stores off base.

2Billon a year.

it be major big for Groton since the base is Poluted only place more Poluted in SE Ct is EB and Pfizer.

so it be a mess to close and it makes Closeing EB and sending teh jobs down to VA or somewere elese a Lot Easyer

closing the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (which is actually in Kittery ME) is going to have a HUGE negative impact on that community . . . and this comes after they already closed Portsmouth Air Force Base some years ago . . .

This is going to be devastating for the economies on BOTH sides of "the river".

since he was raised here.

I just have to add that I'm not only sick, I'm outraged that we are building all those bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet closing bases here. That's just un-American!

That's a very interesting choice. AFAIK, this is what's known in the valley as the "Blue Cube" -- a Top Secret communications facility whose mission itself is shrouded. Variously understood as electronic surveillance, satellite communications, or whatever, this is hardly what I would regard as a "base." I wonder if this signals another privatization move, transferring yet more technology (and money) to a lucky corporation.

Maybe now they might rename Hickam "Onizuka AFB".

All we got was Hickam (Onizuka?) dinged slightly. There was some talk about Ft. Shafter; it might have made a nice new neighborhood on the edge of Honolulu, which is in the midst of a full-blown housing crisis, but no...

Edit: For those of you playing along at home, Ellison Onizuka was an Air Force man from the Big Island of Hawai'i who was killed in the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. He's our hero, dammit, and CA should never have had him in the first place!

It's in Mountain View (or Sunnyvale?), in Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley). (The "Blue Cube" most assuredly is involved in shuttle communications.)

has been in a shutting-down mode for the past five years after the previous BRAC; most of its mission control functions have been relocated to Colorado and other locations. Its closure will nevertheless mark the end of an era.

The "Blue Cube" has been a Silicon Valley landmark for forty years, but it's also woefully vulnerable to potential terrorist acts. For years the local press would annually run an article about the place, and invariably would describe it as " only a bazooka shot away from Highway 237" or something similar.

So it's not surprising that the decision has been made to finally shut the facility down. It's also sitting on some prime real estate adjacent to the local trolley line, and is a relatively small installation.

BTW, they used to run shuttle support operations out of the Blue Cube, so it was a fitting honor to rename an Air Force facility involved with space missions after Col. Onizuka.

Peace.

Al, Ga. suprised me a lot. I know Al doesn't have ANY lefties, and the state in general is about as red as they get. Ga(where I live) has Saxby Chambliss and Jhonny Isacson, both Pubs, and Chambliss is always on the stage with Shrub in his photo ops. The one big base they were worried about here was NAS Atlanta which is linked to Locheed where they build the new fighter jets.

I guess we'll have to wait and see what shakes out of all of this, but something else is going on besides protecting their friends.

That's news to many of us that post here. :-)

I guess there might be some Reps in Congress, but they must be low key and I just don't know about them. The one Sen that always flashes through my mind is Sessions. When he comes on cspan, I have to change the chanel. Shame on me, but I can't stand to even hear his whiny voice!

I apologize that it sounded like I was refering to the residents of Al. That's not wht I meant at all. Sorry.

Bud Cramer. He's from Huntsville, where I live. He's more of a blue dog but at least he's a Dem.

seem to occur in red states and the largest net losses are occuring in some of the blue states.

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Nah, politics don't enter the picture at all......

...and decides to spare their bases just before the next election.

:tinfoilhat:

South Dakota
Ellsworth Air Force Base


:sarcasm:

about the military - so....is there a reason so many Navy/Marine Reserve Centers R slated 4 closure - Do they not want naval/marine reserve recruits anymore? is this a way 2 force enlistees N2 the army?

CA -
Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Detachment Concord - Developers have been licking their chops over this property for years - way 2 expand Huntington Harbor

is how this related to a possible draft.

Let me take an ignorant stab. With fewer bases(and Bush has shown his hand by wanting to convert them to refineries so that can't be reopened)a large draft would mean a LOT of people would have an excuse not to get basic training and be siphoned off immediately and comfortably and SAFELY into mainland non-combatant jobs. The crush to work the combatants through the system offers a way to hide privileged "uniform dodgers" as never before.

The ordinary joes and the poor will be crammed and dispatched more easilyin the chaos.

Better. NEW bases and the monies can be re-allocated for new political benefits by the GOP. Or new military spending will be fought for by states losing traditional bases. This is definitely not about saving money. That is a rationalization.

Mainly, the restructuring of the military goes quickly apace regardless of circumstances or setbacks in keeping with all other Bush AGENDAS.

I think it still assumes the US will make a strong nuclear demonstration so that our toys will replace boots on the ground as the mover of international policy. Simply the British Empire had their navy. The US has its nukes.

attends drill at Willow Grove Air Base, he's forever spewing the
"Clinton weakened the military" line. I'm printing this list and sending it to the pompous ass as a little gift to me.

to another terrorist attack??? :tinfoilhat:

edit: usual stuff

To most of these bases. Here's hoping the land will be freed up for more useful purposes.

And the economy of the surrounding areas?

Good question, but assuming it shrinks the military I can live with it. Although that is probably an idiotic assumption. Unfortunately I guess they get to sign up at the same place that the millions of outsourced and displaced workers get to go - Walmart and the like.

Either way I am glad to provide you with some laughs!

Oil exploration? Real estate development? What did you have in mind, Bike?

The people losing jobs in those areas aren't going to be too pleased about oilmen getting richer. They're not going to be able to afford a new house, either.

a good part of the land is contaminated beyond use!

much of it preserved and there are strict rules about contamination.

But at least some of these bases have been around long before those laws went into effect and the damage had already been done!

and now they should be closed because the land is contaminated. :eyes:

They should not be closed because the land is so contaminated it can only be used for its current purpose!

There are endangered species that can be found on military bases because most of the area is not being used to build big ugly office buildings and other crap. I find that more important that building some "useful" golf course or some other crap.

in the dark?

as a military wife and a biologist, I am not giving you a line of shit here. There are many jobs with conservation that are on military bases. I have a friend that studies a butterfly ONLY found on a military base in Pennsylvania.

but my point is that at least SOME of these basis have areas that are so contaminated from past dumping practices that they will never be reusable as ANYTHING to any living species!

but I am just happy that there is so much untouched land on some of the really big bases, too. And yes, the communities are going to be devastated, especially if it is a smaller community with a large base. My mom claims she heard an Air Force base in my home state (ND) was on the list but I didn't see it on any list. If that one closed it would be devastating. Too many jobs on post would be lost and too much business from the military families would be gone.

I heard of SD, suppoesdly one of the largest in the country I believe

where the economy is going to be devastated beyone belief!

I'm not sure how many chickens still live there. The place is also frequented by birders & it's a home for the Houston Toad(!)

Ellington was deactivated as an AFB some time ago. It's losing its Army National Guard unit in the base closings just announced, but it has governmental tenants such as Bush's old Air National Guard Unit & NASA--not far from the Johnson Space Center. There are also "civilian" tenants.

Is peace better than war? Of course it is. Is there peace in the world? No. Are there people who want to kick our ass? Yes? Is there a standing army that we need to defend against? Not at the moment. Might there be? Yes. Are we the only superpower? Yes. Can an alliance against us be formed? With Bush and his ilk, absolutely yes.

Yes, we need to look toward reducing our military spending. But to make the blanket statement that losing each and every one of these bases is just dead on wrong. Broad stroke statements are like shot gun blasts ..... they hit things on the margin of the issue and fail to make cogent points.

in Iraq....

WTF?

You're absolutely correct. Closing them down here in the US is actually according to legislation enacted as Cheney was coming in to become Secretary of Defense in 1988. Cheney put together the Base Closing Review procedures. Rummy was involved in it too.

I remember them screaming when Clinton was pres about the base closings...conveniently leaving out the facts about their involvement in the legislation and procedures. They have had their hands on the policy side of this for some time now.

But as long as we focus on closing them down over here, we won't be paying attention and doing the math on NEW bases 'over there'.

Anyone else wonder how long their real-life Risk game can continue before they roll the dice and come up snake eyes?

That'll teach George Voinovich.

where will its electronics r&d mission go?
Atsugi?
Yokota?

Monmouth's advantage was it's proximity to Princeton, Rutgers, Stevens, Bell Labs, and RCA's Sarnoff Labs.

Hanscom is in MA - don't see Rumsfield moving the mission there (except to help Romney).

Atsugi's big advantage for the Monmouth mission is its proximity to Toshiba.

Oh wait...

Never let them forget it. Nor the 1996 Gore commission on airline security that was laughed out of committee.

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's recommendation to close Ellsworth Air Force Base dealt a political setback to South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the Republican whose close ties to the White House helped him defeat Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.

At the end of the heated campaign last fall, Daschle used the Rapid City, S.D., base as an example of his clout in Washington, claiming to have kept the base off the list during the last round of closures when Bill Clinton was president.

Thune's campaign countered that Daschle's role as leader of President Bush's opposition would be a liability during the base closure process.
...
Thune also said he talked to Vice President Dick Cheney about saving Ellsworth before he was sworn in earlier this year.

Ellsworth has 29 B-1B bombers, half the nation's fleet of the aircraft. They would join the others at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-base-closings-ellsworth,0,5702202.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

I feel for the people at Ellsworth, but I'm laughing at Thune.
South Dakotans will remember this in six years, and Thune will be a one-term senator.
For all that Daschle didn't do as Senate Minority(Majority leader for a little while), he was very, very good for his (and my) home state. He authored or co-sponsored over 400 bills during his 24 years, most of them beneficial to S.D. And the people of S.D. turn around and elect a man who sat on his ass for the six years he was in the House.
South Dakota just got what it deserved when they elected the Empty Suit known as John Thune. But I still feel for all the people who will suffer with Ellsworth's closing. I wish they didn't have to go through this.

in the next 4 years.

so fewer people around to track down where the missng $2.3 trillion has gone. Good idea!

My house is essentially the one mile marker for Runway 1 at the Brunswick Naval Air Station. My neighbors are military families who will be relocating to (wait for it) Jeb Bush Land Florida. 85% of the military jobs will be funneled from Blue State to Red and the northeast will be left without any real active duty air base. Good thing terrorists will never think of hitting a target in the northeast, like say, New York City. They would never dream of trying to hit the US shipping lanes, which the P-3 kept track of during its missions. I feel safer already.

We're supposedly going to save $48.8Bln over the next 20 years with these closings. That works out to less than $9 per person per year. For the move from Brunswick to Jacksonville it will cost $147 million and will save only $238 million over 20 years. You know what, give me the $147 million and I bet in 20 years I can turn it into a hell of a lot more than $238 million. This is such a lousy deal.

I can think of a lot of ways to save a lot more money and leave these bases untouched...starting with ending the quagmire in the desert...

Otis (Cape Cod, MA) was the one place that actually did manage to scramble some fighters over NYC that day.

This couldn't be like some demented, drawn-out version of MIHOP, could it? :tinfoilhat:

but it isn't anywhere I've found. :shrug:

Don't know if the ND Congressional delegation (all D's) stepped in, or if it was just a rumor.

losing their kc 135's and 2290 personnel.

Lucky to have anything at all--GF was a prime candidate for the chopping block. But losing all those jobs will definitely hurt.

Today's pro-war Democrats like Joe Lieberman and John Kerry need to take a page out of Eisenhower's book: the permanent war economy is theft.

As Eisenhower sagely remarked, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

Permanent war is theft also of land and resources, as we see in Iraq. It is theft also of the possible futures of those turned into soldiers.

Unlike the despicable Lieberman, who is one of the most eager servants of war outside of the White House, Eisenhower understood the poisonous reality of being an empire. He warned Americans not to keep feeding the beast; warned them their economy and their souls would pay the price.

And look at us now: bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, our economy a shambles, our media on hands and knees, religious maniacs holding society hostage, the world turning in horror from a country it once looked to with hope.

We must construct an economy no longer based on permanent war. If the Democratic Party wants to stand for something meaningful instead of being an auxiliary of the GOP, then no higher task awaits.

EOM

When I was reading some of the posts on this thread, I had to check, I thought I was on some right wing wacko board.

I wish they'd close every goddamn one. I'm tired of my tax money feeding a 'Military Conquest Budget' as Saigon68 accurately described it.

Here in upstate NY, practically everyone has a son, or daughter, or sibling, or cousin etc. who is involved with the military. Sorry, but that is my tax money going down the drain. So when the right wingers on my job complain about their tax money going for food stamps, medicaid etc., I always hit them with, "As far as I'm concerned, being in the military is sucking on the government tit also."

And after reading some of the posts in this thread, it appears there are quite a few DU members who pass themselves off as anti-war, against huge military budgets, until it affects their local economy. NIMBY without the 'N'.

Just think if we used just 25% of that military money and labor to improve our cities and infrastructure etc.. So instead of having to rebuild Iraq, we would be rebuilding America. Forget it, it would never happen. Halliburton and private sercurity contractors would suffer, and we can't have that now, can we?

-- edited for spelling --

Eisenhower also said, "Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and co-operation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace."

This administration is not leading us down the path of peace by closing these bases. Being prepared does not mean being aggressive against the world; and being aggressive against the world doesn't mean we should then be unprepared.

Didn't I read somewhere that Duluth is particularly vulnerable to terra attacks by water?

are dependent on a permanent warfare state that is committing ecocide- US Military has brought forth 14,000 contaminated sites in the US alone-shows just how pathological the American system is.

Close them all and bring in the culture of Life



http://www.warresisters.org/wtr_menu.htm

That would require sensible foreign policy, and that's not at all what BushCo is about.

Nor is BushCo interested in frugality, or they'd have rolled back tax cuts and advocated conservation first.

And it's definitely not about national security. It makes NO sense for BushCo to shut down, for example, the Groton sub base.

to shut down the bases, Groton included. But of course a pathologically demented culture that is addicted to war and ecological destruction can't see beyond its nose.

"Jobs" is the excuse for clearcutting the forests and any number of other reckless and life destroying endeavors conjured inside the Western Habit of Mind.

For our survival the US military budget must be shrunk.


Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.
--Cree Indian Proverb

to the states that voted against W in 2004-nothing more, nothing less!