Military Base Closure: Socioeconomic Impacts

Abstract

Congress has authorized the U.S. Department of Defense to begin its fifth round of military base realignment and closing since 1988. A list of bases that the department recommends closing or aligning was presented to the recently established Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission for its consideration on May 13, 2005. The department - generated list recommends 33 major closures and 29 major realignments by 2011. In addition, 48 bases are recommended for significant expansion. The loss of related jobs, and efforts to replace them and implement a viable base reuse plan, will pose significant challenges for affected communities. While the base closures and realignments create substantial socioeconomic distress in communities initially, research has shown that they generally have not had the dire effects that many communities expected. For rural areas, however, the impacts can be greater and the economic recovery much slower. Drawing from existing studies, this report assesses the potential community impacts and proposals for minimizing those impacts.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 18, 2005
Accession Number
ADA435331

Entities

People

  • Baird Webel
  • Tadlock Cowan

Organizations

  • Defense Acquisition University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accountability
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Arms Control
  • Base Closures
  • Civilian Personnel
  • Department Of Defense
  • Economic Development
  • Economic Impact
  • Employment
  • Environmental Restoration And Remediation
  • Geographic Regions
  • Governments
  • Law
  • Local Governments
  • National Security
  • Rural Areas

Readers

  • Economics
  • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Proposed Air Force Base Actions.