Cohen Presses to Close Bases; Some Chiefs Unsure

Defense Secretary William S. Cohen made a strong plea to Congress on Wednesday for authority to close more military bases, but some service chiefs sent a less enthusiastic signal.

“As the smallest service with the fewest number of bases, I know of no installation that I would recommend be closed in the Marine Corps,” Gen. James L. Jones, the Marine Corps commandant, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Adm. Jay L. Johnson, the chief of naval operations, said his view is “not far” from that of Jones.

Johnson said a round of base closings “probably needs to happen,” but he added that he is concerned that in opening up a national debate on how and where to reduce the military’s land holdings, the Navy could end up losing training ranges or access to airspace or the sea that it cannot afford to lose.

“We cannot give it away or we will never get it back,” he said.

The Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, told the panel he would support a new round of base closings, but as a “cautionary footnote” added that the Army needs to decide whether it needs to increase or decrease its manpower before it can say with certainty what should be done about consolidating bases.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Ryan was alone among the chiefs in vigorously advocating more base closings.

“We need it badly,” Ryan said, not just to save money but to correct a situation in which communities near Air Force bases are resisting the service’s efforts to consolidate forces because they fear such moves are setting the stage for an eventual base closure.

In a separate appearance before the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, Cohen noted that President Clinton’s Defense budget for the coming fiscal year asks for authority to close bases in 2003 and 2005.

The closings would save $3 billion a year from 2008 to 2015, Cohen said. That is when huge bills will come due for some of the weapon modernization projects now underway, he said.

In each of the last three years Cohen pressed for more base closings and each time Congress said no. There is little indication that he will succeed this year either.