Today could be the beginning of the end for Utah's Hill Air Force Base . . . or the start of something big: Capitol Hill sources in Washington, D.C., say they've heard Hill is safe from closure, but realignment — in which military base missions and functions are reorganized and reassigned — is another story.

This is "Black Friday," Friday the 13th — the day when hundreds of military bases across the country will learn their fates when a proposed list of installations up for closure or realignment is released this morning.

Even if Hill escapes closure, it could potentially lose thousands of jobs in the Defense Department's realignment process. Officials with the Utah Defense Alliance and the state's congressional leaders are worried about one specific workload that could be transferred to another base, meaning a potential loss of jobs.

"We know there is one area where we're vulnerable," said Utah Defense Alliance president Vicki McCall, who declined to reveal what that workload is. "We don't really know what is going to happen."

Also awaiting word on their possible fates are Utah's Tooele Army Depot and Dugway Proving Ground.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is expected to release his list of proposed bases and facilities for closure and realignment at 8:30 a.m.

After that disclosure, Jim Hansen, the former Utah congressman, and eight other members of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission will sift through thousands of pages of data and visit every military installation that could be affected by the list.

Rumsfeld said Thursday he plans to cut anywhere from 5 percent to 11 percent of excess military infrastructure. Past estimates went as high as 25 percent.

"The department is recommending fewer major base closures than had earlier been anticipated," Rumsfeld said at a news conference Thursday. A recent review of overseas military facilities resulted in a plan that will send 70,000 troops back to the United States to "reduce lease space by moving activities from lease space into owned facilities."

Defense Department officials want to slash $7 billion of their annual budget by closing and realigning military installations.

Hill stands to either gain or lose jobs with an impending realignment, McCall said.

"We are prepared for any and all consequences of the result of this list," McCall said. "We can't help but be somewhat optimistic that we're going to come out of this OK.

"But OK is relative. If we don't close the base, then we're going to be thrilled that we survived that. At the end of the day will we lose 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 jobs? We don't know."