TAD hasn't rebounded since closure

A Utah community near an old military base that was decommissioned in past rounds of base closures did not rebound as well economically as its counterparts.

The Government Accountability Office released a report last week detailing the impacts base closures have had on the communities left behind.

Utah lost two bases in prior Base Realignment and Closure Commission rounds, and Hill Air Force Base could be on the chopping block this year.

And although it's had two years longer to recover, the community surrounding the Tooele Army Depot hasn't fared as well in job creation as the Ogden Defense Distribution Depot since BRAC came to town, the GAO found.

In fact, most communities nationwide have recovered economically from base closures, while some are still struggling to bring their economies back to life.

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, a possible candidate for the nine-member BRAC commission, said base closures are needed to maintain the military's financial viability. The GAO found the Defense Department saved $29 billion by closing down unnecessary bases in prior BRAC rounds.

"We need to close a certain amount of bases that are no longer necessary and get money off those areas where we are just spending money on bricks and mortar," Hansen said. "More of it should be going to the gee-whiz stuff — enhancing the military, making it better."

The Tooele Army Depot lost 1,942 jobs when BRAC closed it down in 1993. Now 844 jobs have been created at the revamped industrial park for a 43 percent recovery rate, the GAO reported.

Other bases of similar size that closed down that year rebounded at a faster rate, according to the GAO report.

Colorado's Lowry Air Force Base was closed in 1991 and employed roughly the same number of people as the Tooele Army Depot. When Lowry shut down, the base lost 2,275 jobs. Now the old base has 3,106 jobs — a 137 percent recovery rate.

When BRAC closed the Ogden Defense Distribution Depot in 1995, the area lost 1,105 jobs. Since then, the area has seen a 55 percent recovery rate, with 615 new jobs.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said this "mother of all BRACs" will shut down a quarter of the military's infrastructure, or about 100 bases. President Bush will nominate the nine-member BRAC commission in March.

BRAC makes recommendations to the president and Congress as to which military bases should be closed. The commission has been recommending base closures since 1988, all part of military downsizing designed to save money by closing military posts that are redundant or nonessential.

Hill Air Force Base survived through three rounds of BRAC closures but came close after making it to the final BRAC list in 1995.

If BRAC shuts Hill down, the state's economy would take a $3.6 billion hit and 47,000 jobs would be lost, according to a Utah Defense Alliance study.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com