Josue Robles Jr., a retired Army major general, lived in San Antonio, and many thought he could use his position on BRAC to save the base. Utah cannot sink into that false sense of security, said Vickie McCall, president of the Utah Defense Alliance.

"When you look at having a BRAC commissioner and political connections, it just doesn't hold water," McCall said.

Divided loyalties?

Hansen is not alone with a potential conflict of interest on the current base-closure commission.

Commissioners Harold W. Gehman Jr. and Philip Coyle also spent years fighting for military bases in their home states.

Can these commissioners remain neutral and do what's best for the U.S. military, even if it means shutting down a base in their back yard?

Hansen said they can.

Coyle recently resigned from his post on the California Council on Base Support and Retention. Like the Utah Defense Alliance, the California group was formed to defend the state's military bases.

The former assistant defense secretary from the Clinton administration stepped down from the panel in February after House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Coyle was a possible candidate for the base-closure commission.

Gehman resigned from a similar post in Virginia after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., submitted his name to the White House for a slot on BRAC.

The retired four-star admiral led the Joint Forces Command and has served on several other high-profile government panels. Gehman led the board investigating the space shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003 and also the probe into the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000.

"The conflict-of-interest issues are hard to call, because the ones with potential conflicts might have to bend over backwards to avoid the appearance of impropriety," said John Pike, a defense analyst at GlobalSecurity.

org, a nonpartisan defense and research organization.

Hansen said, if asked, he will recuse himself from any vote on closing one of Utah's military bases.

The former congressman said he feels he can make a neutral decision despite his many years of lobbying for Hill Air Force Base and Dugway Proving Ground.

What's next

Rumsfeld must release his recommendations for possible closures to the commission by May 16.

Any base on Rumsfeld's list will likely be closed or realigned, as the law requires seven of the nine BRAC commissioners to agree to remove a base from the closure list.

Once Rumsfeld's list is announced, commissioners will travel to every possible base, compiling data and determining which bases they think should be closed. BRAC must submit its own closure list to the president by Sept. 8.