A 'banner day' for Hill

Hatch agreed, saying the quality and efficiency of the work force is far better today than it was 10 years ago, and that made all the difference. "The work force pulled us through in every way," he said.

Utah's surprises

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, who was in Utah and did not attend Friday's announcement, said the Pentagon's announcement validated what the delegation has been saying for years — that Hill is too important to be considered for closure.

"I'm gratified to see that today's decision echoes that belief," he said in a prepared statement. "I want to thank the civilian and military workers that made our bases in Utah effective and viable. Our nation needs a military that can face challenges unimagined just a few decades ago, and Utah is going to be a vital part of that defense."

There were some surprises, the delegation said. They had pretty much resigned themselves to losing Tooele Army Depot or seeing its already diminished mission drastically reduced. Instead, TAD will likely see its role expanded as it absorbs the weapons "igloos" at Deseret as part of its conventional weapons-storage capabilities.

Malcolm Walden, BRAC transition coordinator at TAD, said unlike many others he was relatively confident the tiny depot would remain off the closure list.

What convinced Rumsfeld to keep TAD is probably "the fact that we were the Western depot, and you need to have one in the West," Walden said. "We are geographically well positioned, and I think it paid off for us. That was one of the things that I was counting on; that's why I felt optimistic and it came through."

A realignment at an Army Reserve regional command center at Fort Douglas caught the delegation off-guard. Realignment at the historic fort will result in 53 lost jobs.

Fort Douglas will also most likely be recast as one of six newly designated deployable war-fighting units, meaning that rather than serving an administrative function the base's personnel could end up serving anywhere in the world, Maj. Gen. Peter Cooke said Friday.

The closure of Deseret, which results in a loss of 186 military positions and 62 civilian ones, is seen as a positive turn of events. Not only was closure something that was anticipated over the coming years, but the earlier closure means that chemical weapons at other sites will not be shipped to Utah for disposal.

Pivotal Dugway

What's not on the Pentagon's list is any changes to Dugway, one of the nation's premier military research and testing facilities. The delegation believes Dugway's mission will increase dramatically but that it will be funded through the Department of Homeland Security — a change that takes it off the BRAC radar screen.