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.

"It was a great day for the state of Utah and all of America," said Vicki McCall, with the Utah Defense Alliance, who was in Washington, D.C., for Friday's announcement.

Folks in such states as Connecticut and Maine would disagree. They are among states that will lose thousands of jobs if the Base Realignment and Closure Commission approves the Defense Department's recommended list.

Among the major closures were Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, which would lose more than 2,700 jobs; the Naval Station in Ingleside, Texas, costing more than 2,100 jobs; and Fort McPherson in Georgia, costing nearly 4,200 jobs.

Hill actually could benefit from Cannon's closure. Under the recommendation, the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill would add six Block 40 F-16s from the Cannon fleet.

Educating the brass

Utah's congressional delegation has been worried for months that Hill would again be on the Defense Department's closure list, just as it was 10 years ago when it took a massive lobbying effort in Utah and Washington to persuade BRAC to drop Hill from the list.

This time around, Utah officials and the delegation have been courting the nation's top military brass, "educating" them about Hill's importance to the military and touting its efficient work force.

"We did not have to gild the lily. We did not have to talk about things that weren't really there," said Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah.

Under the military's realignment plan, the base will lose missions related to 13 current military positions and 447 civilian positions. But it will pick up 291 military positions and 24 civilian positions from other bases being closed.