Debate continues in Washington over the fate of several high profile military bases in Kentucky. Forthcoming decisions about those installations could have considerable economic impact on the state.
The military is big business in Kentucky. The state is home to Fort Campbell, Fort Knox, the Bluegrass Army Depot and other smaller
installations. There are 42-thousand military personnel in the Commonwealth, pumping five billion dollars per year into the state's economy. Defense Department contracts in the state total almost four billion dollars. Those are impressive numbers, but change is in the air -change that is being closely monitored by top state officials.
In the ongoing effort to adapt to modern warfare and the threat of terrorism, the Department of Defense is undergoing a deliberative process called BRAC, or Base Realignment and Closure. The impact of BRAC on Kentucky remains to be seen.
Retired Brig. Gen. Jim Shane of the Kentucky Commission on Military Affairs is keeping close tabs on BRAC and its potential impact on military installations in Kentucky. He says an important date is looming. May 16th is when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will s/files/storyimages/to Congress a list of military installations he recommends for closure or realignment.
Gen. Shane says there is no way to predict what Secretary Rumsfeld will recommend. But he's cautiously optimistic military installations in Kentucky will emerge unscathed from BRAC, but if that doesn't happen, he says it won't be from a lack of effort by top state officials intent on protecting what's here.
He says Gov. Fletcher also supported the hiring of a Washington consulting firm to closely monitor the proceedings for the Commonwealth.
We'll soon know if those efforts paid off. The defense secretary's report will be assessed by Congress and the BRAC Commission. The Commission then issues a report to President Bush September 8th and he has until September 23rd to approve or disapprove commission recommendations. If he approves them, they are binding, unless Congress enacts joint resolutions of disapproval. If he disapproves them, new recommendations must be submitted in October.
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