How Would Privatization Projects Fare Following a Future BRAC?

Despite its apparent lack of interest in discussing the possibility of additional base closure rounds, the House Armed Services' Readiness Subcommittee is sufficiently curious as to how long-term commitments the services have made in conjunction with defense real estate projects would be affected by future closures that it requests GAO to study the issue. The panel's request to GAO to look at the impact of base closures on alternatively financed projects is included in the report language accompanying its section of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill ...

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Up to 5,000 Marines to Move to Guam under New U.S.-Japan Agreement

The U.S. and Japanese governments last week unveiled a new plan for moving about 9,000 Marines off Okinawa to Guam, Hawaii, Australia and other locations in the Western Pacific. The new agreement -- an update of an earlier one which would have relocated 8,600 Marines and their families to Guam -- calls for between 4,700 and 5,000 troops to be stationed in Guam. No figures, however, were provided for how the remaining 4,000 Marines would be allocated to other Pacific locations ...

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Readiness Panel Approves Bill Markup, Rejects BRAC Request

The House Armed Services' Readiness Subcommittee approved its section of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill Friday, omitting language allowing the Pentagon's request to hold base closure rounds in 2013 and 2015. The decision to deny DOD permission for one or more BRAC rounds had been all but assured since the department announced its intention to request them. Subcommittee Chairman Randy Forbes confirmed that outcome at the outset of the markup ...

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Panel Asks GAO to Assess How Communities Handled Mission Growth

While the House Armed Services' Readiness Subcommittee on Friday rejected the Pentagon's request for two new BRAC rounds, at the same time it called for GAO to review how defense communities that experienced significant mission growth in the past handled the associated strains on their transportation infrastructure, schools, utilities and housing. "Now that the Department of Defense has completed its fifth BRAC round and the potential exists for future infrastructure, force structure and installation mission changes, local communities may once again have to manage potentially significant installation change ...

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NWS Seal Beach Contributes $136M to Region, Study Reveals

Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach contributes over $136 million to the area's economy and supports over 2,000 jobs, according to a recently completed economic impact and community involvement study. The Southern California base generated over $91 million in industrial output, $38 million in direct payroll expenditures and nearly $6 million in local and state tax revenues, based on the latest available data from fiscal 2010. "I'm proud of the outstanding relationships we have with the surrounding community," Capt. Terry Auberry, base commanding officer, said in a written statement. "The weapons station has been a source of lasting community partnerships and positive economic influence since World War II." The community benefits of the base go beyond monetary support. Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach supports civilian law enforcement training, from local police departments to federal agencies such as the FBI. The base fire department, under a mutual aid agreement with Orange County, routinely responds to civilian emergencies off the installation.

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