A 'banner day' for Hill

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of communities across the nation mourned Black Friday, but in Utah the general feeling was one of relief.

Elsewhere, military installations learned the Department of Defense was recommending they be closed or downsized. But Hill Air Force Base, Utah's largest employer with more than 50,000 direct and indirect jobs, was largely spared by the Department of Defense, and cuts to other Utah bases were either small or were expected.

"Any time you lose even some jobs, you cannot be completely happy," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, but he nevertheless called it a "banner day."

Before closures or downsizings can take effect, the Defense Department's proposal must be approved or changed by a federal base-closing commission by Sept. 8, and then approved by Congress and President Bush in a process that will run into the fall.

The Pentagon proposes shutting about 180 military installations from Maine to Hawaii, including 33 major bases, triggering the first round of base closures in a decade — and an intense struggle to save facilities viewed as the economic lifeblood of local communities.

Overall, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said his plan, which affects workers at 775 military bases, would save $48.8 billion over 20 years while making the military more mobile and better suited for the global effort against terrorism.

Rumsfeld's proposal calls for a net loss of 26,187 military and civilian jobs, including personnel who would be moved home from overseas.

Deseret Morning News graphic Utah bases and facilities Requires Adobe Acrobat.

The closures and downsizings would occur over six years, still subject to consideration by a commission that will look at the recommendations, starting in 2006. The only Utah base slated for closure is Deseret Chemical Depot, the site of the chemical weapons incinerator that was scheduled to be shut down in 2012 anyway.

"Our current arrangements, designed for the Cold War, must give way to the new demands of the war against extremism and other evolving 21st-century challenges," Rumsfeld said in a written statement.

Major closures

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Friday's events mark a beginning of potential economic growth in northern Utah.

"I hope that we wake up 20 years from now and see that we have a true center of excellence as it relates to aerospace design and engineering in northern Utah," he said. "But we all knew that the anchor for that possibility would be maintaining Hill Air Force Base, which gladly we got word on today."

By Hatch's count, when all the realignments and closures are considered, Utah will lose only about 145 total jobs.

Officially, the military puts the number of lost Utah jobs at 446.