Congressional study faults base-closing decisions

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Congressional study faults base-closing decisions
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, December 14, 2007

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on Wednesday warned that defense officials haven’t learned from ill-advised facility closures on Guam in the 1990s, noting that the current round of base closures could prove costly in the future.

A new Congressional study released this week estimates that over the next two decades the 2005 decision on closures will save about $21 billion less than officials originally anticipated.

Several members of the House Armed Services Committee questioned whether the moves will result in long-term savings at all, pointing to Guam and the money that will need to be invested with the new buildup of U.S. forces there.

“The 2005 process was flawed; it did not obtain realistic data upon which to base sound business decisions,” Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, said. “And it came at a time where base closure was a profoundly bad idea, when we were fighting a war on two fronts.”

The report, released by the Government Accountability Office, said that relocating equipment, updating infrastructure and shutting down facilities will cost about $31 billion over the next years, up from the $21 billion originally estimated. Long-term savings will be about $200 million less annually than the $4.2 billion predicted.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50958