We’re not directly tied to any military bases here in Henderson, although we have a fine armory available if the Pentagon ever wants to come back. But on the theory that what affects the state at large eventually will trickle down to (or on) us, we kept a wary eye on this morning’s Base Realignment and Closure recommendations.
No need to worry. Although the numbers moving in and out of Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base are in the thousands, the net effect on North Carolina is the loss of 422 jobs. That’s not bad, considering how many major military bases we have.
We know the folks in Goldsboro were afraid about the future of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. But Seymour Johnson picks up 362 jobs under the Pentagon plan.
“The BRAC recommendations bear out what we already knew here in eastern North Carolina — Seymour Johnson is a first-rate facility,” said Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-Wilson, whose district includes northern Vance County and Seymour Johnson. “This is a data-driven process, and the numbers bear it out.”
Here’s what Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-Lillington, whose district includes southern Vance County and Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, had to say: “As the representative for Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, I am pleased that these bases fared well today. This decision is an acknowledgment by the Department of Defense of the continuing importance of Fort Bragg and Pope in the ongoing war against terrorism and a testament to the patriotic
spirit of North Carolina. I will continue to work on a bipartisan basis with my colleagues and Lt. Gov. Perdue to protect North Carolina’s military bases and the jobs that they support.”
The BRAC Commission now will study the recommendations, which Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says will save $49 billion over 20 years. The commission will report on the recommendations by Sept. 8, and President Bush will have until Sept. 23 to accept or reject the entire plan.
To put $49 billion in perspective, the proposed federal budget for fiscal 2006 is almost $2.6 trillion, and it is projected to top $3 trillion in four years. Assuming the Pentagon’s projections are not overly optimistic, the nation would save about $2.5 billion per year under the BRAC plan, or less than 0.1 percent of the overall federal budget.