New England hearing on base closings July 6

WASHINGTON – The New England hearing on the Pentagon’s recent military base closing recommendations will be held in Boston on July 6 in front of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

The hearing is expected to attract state and local officials and citizens from Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachusetts, as the commission ventures into the region of the country hardest hit by the Pentagon’s proposed base closings.

New England will lose three major bases and absorb nearly 50 percent of the net jobs cut nationwide, under the plans outlined by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The Pentagon on Friday proposed shutting about 180 military installations from Maine to Hawaii, including 33 major bases. The plan is expected to save $48.8 billion over 20 years.

The base closing commission announced its schedule Thursday. Before the hearing, panel members will visit the bases targeted for closure or realignment.

The three major bases set for shutdown in New England are: Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine; Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod in Massachusetts; and the Naval Submarine Base New London, located in Groton, Conn. A major realignment was proposed for the Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine, New England’s only active-duty airfield.

Other smaller bases in the region were also recommended for shutdown or some reduction in force or facilities.

The hearings, said the commission’s chairman, Anthony Principi, will give community residents and officials the chance to tell the panel how and why they believe the Defense Department proposals are wrong or should be changed.

Visiting the bases, said Principi, will allow commissioners to “be better informed about what each base’s real-world situation looks like and familiarize themselves with the key issues likely to be discussed at the regional hearing.”