LOOKING AT BRAC: Steps in 2004 set the criteria

FORT HUACHUCA -- This Army post's future will soon be in the hands of a select federal commission, a group that will decide if the fort closes, is reduced in size or expands in its missions.

Like all of the nation's military installations, Fort Huachuca will be reviewed by being pulled apart and put back together again to see if it meets Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's requirements, which first and foremost require installations to have military value.

Two days before Christmas the draft selection criteria for the upcoming Base Realignment and Closure round was published in the Federal Register, giving the public until Jan. 28 to respond.

While 2004 starts the process, 2005 will be when the commission begins its work leading to decisions on what to keep open and what to close.

Of the eight considerations in the Federal Register, four of them pertain to military value.

1 -- The current and future missions capabilities and the impact on operation readiness of the Department of Defense's total force.

2 -- The availability and condition of land, facilities and associated airspace (including training areas suitable for maneuver by ground, naval or air forces throughout a diversity of climate and terrain areas and staging areas for the use of the armed forces in homeland defense missions) at both existing and potential receiving locations.

3 -- The ability to accommodate contingency, mobilization and future total force requirements at both existing and potential receiving locations to support operations and training.

On most of the four main proposed requirements, the fort is considered to be in a good position.

As the Army's intelligence training complex, the fort provides the facilities to train soldiers, along with sailors, airmen and Marines in a couple of special courses.

Civilian proponents of the post believe the fort can accept intelligence training now done at an Air Force base in Texas and a Navy facility in Florida to consolidate the vital defense function.

Additionally, since the post is part of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command there are some who believe another high-tech mission, the training of Signal Corps soldiers now done at Fort Gordon, Ga., can be brought to Fort Huachuca as part of a consolidation. The Signal School also is part of TRADOC.

Fort Huachuca is the home for the Army's Network Technology Enterprise Command, an organization directly involved in global missions requiring communications systems and signal soldiers.

The fort's 70,000-plus acres are seen as being able to handle additional missions, especially those involved in training and testing and developing of high-tech systems.

The post also is the home of the Army's Electronic Proving Ground, the Defense Department's Joint Interoperability Test Command and other smaller technology-driven organizations. And the post supports other federal agencies.

Because of environmental concerns, maneuvering units, such as infantry, armored and artillery, are not seen as viable mission additions to the post.

One important function the Intelligence Center is part of and expanding is the world of unmanned aerial vehicles. Ground was broken recently on an expansion that will make the Army's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Training Center the world's largest facility for pilotless planes.

The federal Department of Homeland Security has expressed interest in using the post's facilities to develop a UAV program to be used along the border. With the fort close to the Mexican border, it will be a logical place for Homeland Security to use starting in 2004, Secretary Tom Ridge said during a recent visit to Southeastern Arizona.

The fort's 12,000-foot-long runway also benefits the fort because with it comes thousands of cubic miles of restricted airspace for military aircraft training.

While the military value of the post, as it now exists and how it could expand, is not a major problem, other things could be used against the post. Two of the four other considerations make the fort particularly vulnerable.

The No. 7 consideration is "the ability of both the existing and potential receiving communities' infrastructure to support forces, missions and personnel."

Through Team Cochise, created to look into the a variety of needs the fort will need to remain and expand, the local civilian community has stepped up to answer the requirement. Team Cochise has a number of committees working on affordable off-post housing, job opportunities for military dependents, health care and education.

Although the eighth consideration in the draft selection criteria -- "The environmental impact, including the impact of costs related to potential environmental restoration, waste management and environmental compliance activities" -- is the last, it could be the most critical for the fort and its supporters.

The San Pedro River, most of which in the Upper San Pedro Basin and is part of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, has been and continues to be an environmental battleground.

Environmental groups, such as the Center for Biological Diversity, contend the fort's existence imperils the river and any expansion will kill the waterway because of subsequent off-post development.

Fort leaders have done many things to address water use on the post and have saved millions of gallons of water through a stringent conservation program.

Off-post water use, especially with expected development, is seen as a major issue.

Fort officials have agreed to take responsibility for some of the off-post water use, but the leaders of the civilian communities have to come up with conservation programs and other ideas to keep the San Pedro River flowing. The river is a nationally and globally recognized bird migration corridor.

The post is a member of the Upper San Pedro Partnership, a consortium of federal, state and local agencies as well as two environmental groups and businesses, that has been recognized by Congress and charged by the nation's highest legislative branch to ensure the river is saved. The partnership has a difficult road before it but has been successful in obtaining funds for water-saving projects and is looking to do more in the future.

5 -- The extent and timing of potential costs and savings, including the number of years, beginning with the date of completion of the closure or realignment for the savings to exceed the costs.

6 -- The economic impact on existing communities in the vicinity of military installations.

As for the sixth consideration, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano created a state military task force to look at all the military installations. Besides the fort, the other major military installations in the state are Davis-Monthan and Luke Air Force bases, Yuma Marine Corps Air Station and the Army's Yuma Proving Ground.

Of the nearly $5.7 billion the military installations provide to the state's economy, the fort's part is the most at $1.47 billion, or 25 percent of the state's total.

The governor and the others know that the survival of all the state's military installations are important to Arizona, especially in this time of budget deficits in the state. Napolitano and others also realize that the selling point they have to make is that the installations fit into the first four military value considerations.

Besides the state's task force, which will morph into a permanent commission, a number of local groups are working to save installations in Arizona.

The Fort Huachuca 50, a longtime group of civilian leaders dedicated to protecting the post, has had a successful fund-raiser to be used to tell the fort's story and its importance to national security.

The Greater Sierra Vista Area Chamber of Commerce has a "Save the Fort" program.

In 2004, a number of things in the BRAC process will take place as part of the growing process leading up to 2005 decision making.

In February, the Defense Department will have to provide Congress a force structure plan and infrastructure inventory to Congress as part of its fiscal year 2005 budget justification.

On Feb. 16, the final selection criteria will have to be published in the Federal Register and provided to the congressional defense committees.

By April, the comptroller general will prepare and evaluation of the force structure plan provided by the Department of Defense.

Although it may appear there is a breather after April until February 2005, when revisions to the force structure plan and infrastructure inventory have to be made, the struggle to retain and expand and installations will be in full swing as communities throughout the nation rally their forces to protect their military installations.

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg	Freepers/Avg	Monthlies
23	Kentucky	175.00	4	43.75	178	0.98	10.00	1

Panel has been positive

One of the best actions Gov. Janet Napolitano took in 2003 was the formation of the Military Facilities Task Force.

Chief among the reasons for starting this group was the recognition by the governor of the huge impact our military facilities have on the state's economy.

According to recent figures, 83,000 jobs and a $5.3 billion impact make our military infrastructure larger than any corporation doing business in the state. In the face of the upcoming Base Realignment and Closure process, the governor realized it was important to develop strategies to ensure the long-term viability of Fort Huachuca and other installations.

The task force, which included local representation in the person of Fort Huachuca 50 President Tom Finnegan, met frequently to discuss the various issues confronting our state's military infrastructure.

In November, the task force issued a report calling on the state to get far more serious in addressing several items to ensure the viability of our military installations. Chief among the suggestions was to establish a permanent body to monitor ongoing issues, establish funding for such a body, have a state lobbying presence in Washington, D.C., deal with a wide variety of encroachment issues, examine and be aware of environmental impacts, and encourage land use decisions that have more favorable outcomes for military installations.

In a December barnstorming tour of cities with military bases, Napolitano embraced all the task force's recommendations.

The next part will take place this year as state legislators will need to be informed and updated about military installations and the issues facing their continued existence.

With Fort Huachuca representing so much to our area, it is refreshing to see the governor be so supportive of the task force. We appreciate the work of Finnegan and the other volunteers who served on that body.

With more work on the horizon, their initial efforts will pay great benefits to our county and state.

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