Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Choices Narrowed on Base Closings

Decisions this year over which military installations to save or scuttle “will be all the more difficult” because only the best facilities are left after three earlier, grueling rounds of closings, said Alan J. Dixon, chairman of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission. He said that the Pentagon’s recommendations would close fewer bases this year but larger ones than in the past, providing more budget savings. Previous closings have provided long-term savings of less than $16 billion but officials hope the new round will trim as much as $18.5 billion from the defense budget.