More Base Closings May Be Fiscal Answer for Pentagon

The retiring chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warns that U.S. military readiness is being crimped by a shortage of funds, raising the grimly familiar possibility that in a national security emergency the United States might be unable to respond as rapidly and forcefully as circumstances demand. Gen. John M. Shalikashvili proposes finding the needed money by shutting down more military bases--not essential bases but those the armed services now consider irrelevant luxuries. The proposal, unfortunately, is unlikely even to get a decent hearing in a Congress whose political fear of further base closings is clear.

Keeping redundant bases open leaves unresolved the concern Shalikashvili raised in a farewell interview: “We don’t have the money we need for troops.”

In some units quantities of weapons, transports and other equipment are unusable because of spare-parts shortages. Equipment problems aside, many units find themselves struggling to function at well below authorized strength following the personnel cuts made since the end of the Cold War. The military’s active strength has fallen from 2.1 million to about 1.4 million, while annual defense spending has shrunk since 1989 from $350 billion (in 1996 dollars) to $245 billion.

A smaller force means that the burdens on those who remain grow heavier. Frequent or prolonged deployments, whether for training or peacekeeping missions, in time sap morale and affect reenlistment rates. The rewards of the civilian economy similarly lure trained personnel from the services. The Air Force urgently needs more bonus money to keep its pilots from moving to high-paying jobs with civilian airlines. Losses of helicopter pilots and skilled technicians also have the Pentagon worried.

Current budget plans offer little prospect for relief. Defense spending will fall to about 2.7% of the gross domestic product in five years, its lowest level since before World War II. At the same time Congress and the Clinton administration insist this country will maintain a defense capability second to none, will meet its global commitments, will indeed undertake new responsibilities if NATO expands. In fact, as Shalikashvili bluntly notes, tight budgets threaten to steadily undermine effectiveness. He proposes one way to find needed funds--shut the bases. If that idea is rejected, the president and Congress had better have one to offer in its stead.