Facts: Base Realignment and Closure 2005

BRAC is a means to achieve several important goals: eliminate excess infrastructure; reshape our military; pursue Jointness; optimize military readiness; and realize significant savings in support of transforming the Department of Defense. At a minimum, BRAC 2005 must eliminate excess physical capacity -- the operation, sustainment and recapitalization of which diverts scarce resources from defense capability. However, BRAC 2005 can make an even more profound contribution to transforming DoD by more closely aligning our infrastructure with defense strategy. BRAC 2005 should be the means by which we reconfigure our current infrastructure into one in which operational capacity maximizes both warfighting capability and efficiency. By creating Joint organizational and basing solutions, we will facilitate multiservice missions, reduce waste, save money and free up resources to recruit quality people, modernize equipment and infrastructure, and develop the capabilities needed to meet 21st-century threats.

2005 timeline

• February – defense secretary submits, with the budget, revisions to force-structure plan and infrastructure inventory
• May 16 – by this date, the defense secretary must forward his recommendations for closure and realignment to the independent BRAC commission, at which time the information will be available to the public
• Sept. 8 – by this date, the BRAC commission’s recommendations must be submitted to the president
• Sept. 23 – by this date, the president will accept or reject the recommendations on an all-or-nothing basis, and will forward the recommendations to Congress if he accepts them
• Oct. 20 – by this date, if the president rejects the BRAC commission's recommendations the first time, the BRAC commission resubmits its revised recommendations to the president
• Nov. 7 – by this date, president approves or disapproves the BRAC commission's revised recommendations
• Once the president forwards the BRAC recommendations to Congress, Congress has 45 legislative days to enact a joint resolution rejecting all the recommendations or they become binding on DoD

BRAC facts

• DoD conducted four previous BRAC rounds: 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995. BRAC '88 closed 16 major installations; BRAC '91 closed 26 major installations; BRAC '93 closed 28 major installations; and BRAC '95 closed 27 major installations
• The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 authorized the Defense Department to pursue one BRAC round in 2005
• Previous BRAC rounds continue to save about $6.6 billion annually and have eliminated about 20 percent of DoD capacity. Through 2001, BRAC has produced a net savings of about $16.7 billion, including the cost of environmental clean-up.
• All CONUS-based installations are being considered in BRAC 2005
• There is no target number of installations identified to close or realign
• The independent BRAC Commission, the president and Congress review the defense secretary's realignment and closure recommendations publicly
• A primary objective of BRAC 2005 is to examine and implement opportunities for greater Joint activity
• Military value is the primary consideration in reducing or restructuring U.S. military bases. The 2005 BRAC process will help find innovative ways to consolidate, realign or find alternative uses for current facilities

To stay informed about BRAC

• The Pentagon Channel, on-line at www.thepentagonchannel.mil
• American Forces Press Service, on-line at www.defenselink.mil
• Primary BRAC 2005 Website, www.defenselink.mil/brac
• DoD Office of Economic Assistance Website, www.oea.gov

Questions and answers

Q. How does BRAC work?
A. The process of BRAC, or base realignment and closure -- referring to the congressionally authorized process DoD uses to reorganize its base structure -- begins with a threat assessment of the future national security environment, followed by the development of a force-structure plan and basing requirements to meet these threats. DoD then applies published selection criteria to determine which installations to recommend for realignment and closure. The secretary of defense will publish a report containing the realignment and closure recommendations, forwarding supporting documentation to an independent commission appointed by the president, in consultation with congressional leadership.

Q. Which bases will be looked at in this round?
A. All military installations within the United States and its territories (under the control of the U.S. federal government) will be examined as part of this process. This includes labs, medical, training, Guard, Reserve, air stations, leased facilities, etc.

Q. Will near-term future new force-structure changes be incorporated into the BRAC 2005 process?
A. Where the BRAC timeline can accommodate operational imperatives, new force-structure beddowns will be incorporated in the BRAC process. Using the BRAC process offers the opportunity to make the most efficient and effective use of the capacity and capabilities of the department.

Q. How will Jointness be assessed during BRAC2005?
A. The BRAC law requires that closure and realignment recommendations be based on published selection criteria that must make military value the primary consideration. The law further provides that military value must include impacts on Joint warfighting, readiness and training.

Q. Are there any specific priorities for BRAC 2005?
A. In his Nov. 15, 2002, memorandum, the defense secretary established the goals and priorities for the 2005 BRAC round. A primary objective of BRAC 2005, in addition to realigning our base structure to meet our post-Cold War force structure, is to examine and implement opportunities for greater Jointness. To reinforce the idea that we should be looking across traditional lines to examine the potential for Jointness, the Secretary established an internal BRAC 2005 decision-making body that is Joint at every level.

Q. How will the realignment of military forces and bases overseas impact BRAC 2005 efforts?
A. On March 20, 2003, the defense secretary directed the development of a comprehensive and integrated presence and basing strategy looking out 10 years. Results of that effort, including rationalizing areas of potential excesses and identifying the utility of overseas installations, will be included in the analytical portions of the BRAC 2005 process.

Q. How much excess capacity does the DoD currently have?
A. The March 2004 DoD Report required by Section 2912 of the Defense Closure and Realignment Act of 1990, as amended through the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003, estimates that DoD has 24 percent excess installation capacity. Moreover, in preparing the list of realignment and closure recommendations in May 2005, DoD will conduct a thorough review of its existing infrastructure in accordance with the law and DoD BRAC 2005 guiding procedures, ensuring that all military installations are treated equally and evaluated on their continuting military value to our nation.

Q. What is the BRAC 2005 commission?
A. The commission is an independent commission responsible for reviewing the defense secretary's recommendations for BRAC 2005. BRAC legislation specified the selection process for commissioners. The president was required to consult with the congressional leadership on nominations to serve on the commission.

Q. Who makes up the BRAC 2005 commission?
A. Anthony J. Principi has been nominated by the president as the chairman of the commission. On March 15, the president nominated eight people as members of the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission: James H. Bilbray, Nevada; Philip Coyle, California; retired Navy Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr., Virginia; James V. Hansen, Utah; retired Army Gen. James T. Hill, Florida; retired Army Lt. Gen. Claude M. Kicklighter, Georgia; Samuel Knox Skinner, Illinois; and retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Sue Ellen Turner, Texas.

Q. What authority does the commission have?
A. The commission has the authority to change DoD's recommendations if it determines that a recommendation deviated from the force-structure plan and/or selection criteria. The commission will hold regional meetings to solicit public input prior to making its recommendations. History has shown that the use of an independent commission and public meetings make the process as open and fair as possible.

Q. What happens to the commission's recommendations?
A. The commission forwards its recommendations to the president for review and approval, who then forwards the recommendations to Congress. Congress has 45 legislative days to act on the commission report on an all-or-none basis. After that time, the commission's realignment and closure recommendations become law. Implementation must start within two years, and actions must be complete within six years.

Q. If a base is approved for closure or realignment, how long will it take?
A. Under the BRAC law, actions to close or realign a base must be initiated within two years of the date the president transmits the BRAC commission's recommendations report to Congress and must be completed within six years of that same date.