Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Area base backers may seek help in Washington

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

Published by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY

Wednesday, August 1, 2001
Area base backers may seek help in Washington
A consultant could help gather data about latest round of base closures
By Stephanie L. Jordan
Caller-Times
   A group that wants to preserve South Texas military bases may look for a Washington consultant to help gather information for the latest round of base closures.
   Department of Defense officials said they plan to propose a bill for Congress to authorize one round of base closures in 2003.
   "We knew this was coming, but we kept waiting on people to get more definite," said Mayor Loyd Neal,a member of the South Texas Military Facilities Task Force.
   Previously called BRAC, for Base Realignment and Closure Committee, this latest attempt to scale down military bases in the United States is being called the Efficient Facilities Initiative, said Glenn Flood, a Defense Department spokesman.
   'Review all bases'
   "We're just going to do an analysis and review all bases," Flood said.
   But Neal said having one round might be just as bad as having two.
   "It could make your job tougher because you know you only have one swipe of the cloth," Neal said. "So the cuts could be deeper."
   The South Texas Military Facilities Task Force will meet soon to decide what the next course of action will be. In the next month to 45 days, task force members also will go to Washington to meet with officials to discuss closure issues.
   But group members think they also may need help in Washington.
   "We need someone who is primed to decide what's fact and what's fantasy," said Tom Niskala, chief executive officer for the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce.
   U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, doesn't want another round of closures.
   "Can you imagine South Texas with the military bases gone?"
   A closure in 1993
   The Coastal Bend has seen the closure of one base when Naval Air Station Chase Field in Beeville closed in 1993 and 900 jobs were lost. Naval Air Stations Corpus Christi and Kingsville, the Corpus Christi Army Depot and Naval Station Ingleside remain, employing more than 10,000 civilian and military employees.
   Between 1988 and 1995, Texas lost 28,000 jobs, military and civilian, to reorganization by the armed forces.
   A Pentagon report in 1998 said the United States has more bases than needed to support a downsized military, despite four rounds of base closures. Since 1988, 97 of the country's 495 major bases have been closed and many others were consolidated.
   What makes some of the area's remaining bases secure is that two - Ingleside and the Army Depot - are different from any other in the country, and for pilot training the air space is nearly impossible to beat, Neal has said.
   "I'm confident that the bases in Texas are safe," Ortiz said.


Contact Stephanie L. Jordan at 886-3724 or jordans@caller.com

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND