Pentagon to save $20 billion restructuring military bases
May 13, 2005
Citing the changing realities of a post-Cold War world, the Pentagon on Friday recommended the closure of 33 large US military bases and the alteration of 29 others.
It also recommended the closure or restructuring of 775 smaller bases and other military installations around the country over six years.
This follows a previous recommendation that US military bases in South Korea and Germany be closed, a move that would return 70,000 US troops to the United States.
Those foreign closures may not proceed as quickly as the Pentagon had hoped, however, after the release of an independent committee’s report this week that said too rapid a pull-out could endanger US national security.
Besides serving the stated purpose of retooling the military for current international realities, the base closures will save the government a great deal of money.
The domestic base closures will save the government around $50 billion dollars in the next 20 years, and the closing the South Korean and German bases will save another $14 billion.
However, many of the proposed base closures in the U.S. will certainly be fought by the surrounding communities and the elected representatives that serve those areas, as closing bases will have an enormous detrimental effect on the economies of those communities.