Hansen told Rumsfeld Monday he expects this will be the last round of military base closures.

"I'm convinced this is your last bite of the apple," said Hansen, adding that the proposed closures and realignments would bring "a lot of pain for a lot of people."

"Certainly, it's the last bite of the apple during my watch," said Rumsfeld, who then added that the ever-changing needs of the military could cause another base-closure round in the future. "I would think it may happen again."

Hansen told the Deseret Morning News last week that he expects the commission to approve 60 percent to 70 percent of Rumsfeld's recommendations.

In past base-closure rounds, the commission approved about 85 percent of the defense secretary's recommendations.

"We will not rubber-stamp this list," Hansen said Friday, the day Rumsfeld's proposed list of base realignments and closures was released. "I guarantee there will be changes. If people think that it came from Mount Sinai and it's going to be in cement, it's not."

Huntsman said he is not at all worried about Hill's chances of being added to the BRAC list. "I'm not concerned at all about it being reversed," Huntsman said. "I think the BRAC commission is constructed in a way that it would almost have to be an impossibility."

To remove a base from the list takes only a simple majority on the commission. However, to add a base, seven out of the nine commissioners must vote in unison.

Hansen said Utah should not get too comfortable. Things happen. Changes are made. And just as in 1995, when Hill didn't make the initial BRAC list but was added by commissioners a few weeks later, Hill could still be at risk.

Commissioners later decided to keep Hill open but shut down two other Air Force air logistics centers during the '95 base-closure round.

"You gotta realize, contrary to what I've read in a few places, the commission does have a heck of a lot of clout. We can add or take away," Hansen told the Deseret Morning News. "There will be some changes in probably most of these bases; they may be miniscule and they may be large."

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Contributing: Associated Press.

E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com