Base Closure

Approach to saving money in the defense budget by closing obsolete, underused, or redundant military bases. The Defense Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 called on the Department of Defense (DoD) to identify military bases that could be closed to address the growing costs of the nation's defense budget. In response to the act, the DoD defined four priorities to be given consideration in choosing which bases would be directly affected. These priorities included the impact on operational readiness of the nation's total fighting force, availability and condition of the facilities, ability of each base to accommodate total force requirements, and the cost and manpower implications of closing each base. Other factors taken into consideration were cost-effectiveness, the economic impact on the surrounding community, the ability of local communities to support a military base, and local environmental impact.

One of the more complex issues surrounding base closures is the impact of a closure on the local communities. Military bases have a tremendous impact on the economic development and culture of the communities in which they reside. Closing a base may mean the economic ruin of the surrounding communities that have grown to depend on the business generated by the base. It was this kind of interdependent relationship between business and national defense that led President Dwight D. Eisenhower to speak in his farewell address of the development of a “military industrial complex.” Eisenhower warned of the political, economic, and spiritual impact of the growth of the military on communities in the United States, stating that “Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.”

The issue of base closings is not only a significant domestic issue, but also of international importance in light of the realignment of U.S. defense priorities at the beginning of the 21st century. The shifting of military bases overseas in response to the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the global “war on terror” are two recent manifestations of the international impact of base closures.