Is B.R.A.C. really a boogie man to be feared?

[Lenny]

Looking at the GAO's latest report (short version is a one page summary, long version is a 55 page report) those communities around BRAC sites aren't doing too badly for themselves once the immediate shock is past. Unemployment rates are generally better than the national average and income growth rates are higher than the national average.

GAO didn't report on impact of sonic booms and their elimination.

 

[jljonsn]

Maybe in the grand-scale it's not so bad, but for individuals, it depends how closely your job is linked to the base itself, and whether there is an alternative job available.

Think there are a lot of aviation engineering or weapons jobs available hereabouts?

 

[Lenny]

Maybe in the grand-scale it's not so bad, but for individuals, it depends how closely your job is linked to the base itself, and whether there is an alternative job available.

Think there are a lot of aviation engineering or weapons jobs available hereabouts?

One of the underlying fallicies of the "Defend against BRAC at all costs" is the belief that job stability and a resultant stable local economy can only be provided by the central government. If you're not getting your check from Uncle Sugar, you're doomed to the whims of market forces. But Uncle Sugar just changed the rules as far as civilian employment goes. It may not be in anyone's best interests to work for the Federal government. Yeah, the jobs will be where the planes are. If Pax closes, I don't imagine its replacement won't involve aviation in one or many forms. If you're only into the weapons part of it, you may have to move.

 

[Railroad]

Lenny, I'd be a bit cautious about the report. Certainly there must be a lot of political pressure to have the report tell Congress what they want to hear. I haven't read it yet, but my experience has been that the closure of a base, especially a big one, is devastating to the community (and often very detrimental to the ability of a given branch of service to continue supporting a given system). My experience was in three places (well actually two, I guess). Charleston Naval Shipyard and the Charleston Naval Base, and Boston Naval Shipyard. Boston bounced back better, because a lot of skills worked well in other types of industry in the local area. But you can go down to Charleston right now, and it's almost as if the city took a nuke in the North Charleston area. The last time I was there, they were bulldozing the base, and the surrounding community was a boarded-up, rat-infested ghost town. Downtown Charleston was still okay, but then in Goose Creek, the suburb once inhabited by mostly Navy and contractor folks, the local economy is obviously a mess, and the once-nice housing subdivision I lived in was pretty run down and shabby looking.

Just my $.02.

 

[marianne]

I'd be a bit cautious about the report...

I've never before read a GAO report where agency comments were simply stated:
The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Installations and Environment)
provided technical comments on a draft of this report that were
incorporated as appropriate.

The Charleston base closure definitely had a negative impact on the area. Doesn't St. Mary's & Charles have some kind of contingency plan should the bases close? I'd love to know what that plan is.

 

[aps45819]

Doesn't St. Mary's & Charles have some kind of contingency plan should the bases close? I'd love to know what that plan is.

The Amish will be storing tobacco in some mighty fancy barns.

 

[morganj614]

The Amish will be storing tobacco in some mighty fancy barns.

Anechoic tobacco barns, what will they think of next?

 

[jljonsn]

If you're only into the weapons part of it, you may have to move.

Would you happen to have the URL for "China Lake Online"? (shudder)

 

[BernieP]

Lenny, I'd be a bit cautious about the report. Certainly there must be a lot of political pressure to have the report tell Congress what they want to hear. I haven't read it yet, but my experience has been that the closure of a base, especially a big one, is devastating to the community (and often very detrimental to the ability of a given branch of service to continue supporting a given system). My experience was in three places (well actually two, I guess). Charleston Naval Shipyard and the Charleston Naval Base, and Boston Naval Shipyard. Boston bounced back better, because a lot of skills worked well in other types of industry in the local area. But you can go down to Charleston right now, and it's almost as if the city took a nuke in the North Charleston area. The last time I was there, they were bulldozing the base, and the surrounding community was a boarded-up, rat-infested ghost town. Downtown Charleston was still okay, but then in Goose Creek, the suburb once inhabited by mostly Navy and contractor folks, the local economy is obviously a mess, and the once-nice housing subdivision I lived in was pretty run down and shabby looking.

Just my $.02.

I would have to second this. In the case of Pax River, if it were closed, it would have a very bad effect on the local economy. It's not like there is any diverisfication. There are a lot of people who earn a living directly or indirectly off the Navy. And that does not include the retail , restaurants and other service jobs.