Closing Bases Here, Expanding Them Abroad

If the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) prevails, 22 major homeland bases will be closed, among them the Springfield, Illinois, station of the 183rd Fighter Wing, one of only a few training facilities for F-16 fighter pilots. Presently, the unit has 942 members and an annual payroll of $44 million. Losing this state-run asset with its 15 National Guard fighter planes would be an economic blow for the Springfield community.

In opposition to the BRAC recommendation, our Congressman Ray LaHood introduced legislation to stop the projected base closures. Regrettably, however, his colleagues whose districts gained from the reconfiguration of the domestic base distribution are unlikely to support his initiative. Before Congress allows economic harm to be done to bases on American soil, it ought to assess the necessity of the huge number of military facilities abroad all over the world--at a time when the Defense Department spends $1.3 billion every day.

On one of its web sites, the Pentagon proudly proclaims that the “U.S. European Command in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany, is responsible for 13 million square miles in 89 countries and territories.” From Norway’s North Cape to South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, “the Command’s mission is to support and advance US interests and policies …and to provide combat-ready land, maritime, and air forces to Allied Command Europe or to US Unified Commands.” In addition to this vast, self-assigned task, the U.S. maintains several hundred army, navy, air force, and marine bases in the Middle East, in Asia, in the Pacific, and in Central America.

Sixty years after the Second World War and 16 years after the Cold War, at least 18 bases remain stationed in Germany. The Pentagon claims that they serve operations outside or on the periphery of Europe. That makes sense in the cases of the Ramstein airbase and the hospital facilities at Wiesbaden and Landstuhl that are vital supports for American troops in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Why, however, American soldiers have to get their training and hold their maneuvers in Germany and not back home is difficult to understand. Many economically struggling communities in the Midwest would certainly welcome the business they could gain from the flourishing garrisons and installations that now benefit foreign economies.

Our bases in Germany have become as much an integral part of the surrounding communities as the Springfield and Scott Air Force bases are for their neighborhoods in Illinois. If the Pentagon closed military facilities in Germany, it would encounter objections from German mayors and businessmen much like it now hears from their American counterparts.

While American soldiers in Europe usually enjoy cordial relations with their hosts that is much less likely in non-Western societies. During the run-up to the invasion of Afghanistan, the Pentagon leased air bases in the central Asian republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrkyzstan. As usual, however, where the Pentagon gains a foothold, it wants to stay. That attitude, however, is now meeting with opposition, not only from the predominantly Muslim host countries but also from neighboring China, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Even though the Uzbeks get a $150 million annual aid package for hosting the Karshi-Khanabad Air base, on July 29 they formally told the U.S. government to evacuate the facility within 180 days.

In Iraq, U.S. engineers are in the process of constructing fourteen “enduring bases”--a Pentagon designation for long-term garrisons housing thousands of occupation troops. If the Bush administration remains bent on a continuing “robust military presence in the Middle East and intent on a muscular approach to seeding democracy in the region,” terrorist unrest may well trouble Americans and their allies for a long time to come.

While our adversaries and our friends are getting increasingly critical of our military presence all over the world, we Americans back home have to wonder when all our sons and daughters will ever again return where they belong.

Wolf D. Fuhrig	Home	10-02-05
Closing Bases Here, Expanding Them Abroad
If the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) prevails, 22 major homeland bases will be closed, among them the Springfield, Illinois, station of the 183rd Fighter Wing, one of only a few training facilities for F-16 fighter pilots. Presently, the unit has 942 members and an annual payroll of $44 million. Losing this state-run asset with its 15 National Guard fighter planes would be an economic blow for the Springfield community. In opposition to the BRAC recommendation, our Congressman Ray LaHood introduced legislation to stop the projected base closures. Regrettably, however, his colleagues whose districts gained from the reconfiguration of the domestic base distribution are unlikely to support his initiative. Before Congress allows economic harm to be done to bases on American soil, it ought to assess the necessity of the huge number of military facilities abroad all over the world--at a time when the Defense Department spends $1.3 billion every day. On one of its web sites, the Pentagon proudly proclaims that the “U.S. European Command in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany, is responsible for 13 million square miles in 89 countries and territories.” From Norway’s North Cape to South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, “the Command’s mission is to support and advance US interests and policies …and to provide combat-ready land, maritime, and air forces to Allied Command Europe or to US Unified Commands.” In addition to this vast, self-assigned task, the U.S. maintains several hundred army, navy, air force, and marine bases in the Middle East, in Asia, in the Pacific, and in Central America. Sixty years after the Second World War and 16 years after the Cold War, at least 18 bases remain stationed in Germany. The Pentagon claims that they serve operations outside or on the periphery of Europe. That makes sense in the cases of the Ramstein airbase and the hospital facilities at Wiesbaden and Landstuhl that are vital supports for American troops in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Why, however, American soldiers have to get their training and hold their maneuvers in Germany and not back home is difficult to understand. Many economically struggling communities in the Midwest would certainly welcome the business they could gain from the flourishing garrisons and installations that now benefit foreign economies. Our bases in Germany have become as much an integral part of the surrounding communities as the Springfield and Scott Air Force bases are for their neighborhoods in Illinois. If the Pentagon closed military facilities in Germany, it would encounter objections from German mayors and businessmen much like it now hears from their American counterparts. While American soldiers in Europe usually enjoy cordial relations with their hosts that is much less likely in non-Western societies. During the run-up to the invasion of Afghanistan, the Pentagon leased air bases in the central Asian republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrkyzstan. As usual, however, where the Pentagon gains a foothold, it wants to stay. That attitude, however, is now meeting with opposition, not only from the predominantly Muslim host countries but also from neighboring China, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Even though the Uzbeks get a $150 million annual aid package for hosting the Karshi-Khanabad Air base, on July 29 they formally told the U.S. government to evacuate the facility within 180 days. In Iraq, U.S. engineers are in the process of constructing fourteen “enduring bases”--a Pentagon designation for long-term garrisons housing thousands of occupation troops. If the Bush administration remains bent on a continuing “robust military presence in the Middle East and intent on a muscular approach to seeding democracy in the region,” terrorist unrest may well trouble Americans and their allies for a long time to come. While our adversaries and our friends are getting increasingly critical of our military presence all over the world, we Americans back home have to wonder when all our sons and daughters will ever again return where they belong.

Wolf D. Fuhrig

Home

10-02-05

Closing Bases Here, Expanding Them Abroad