Chamber Supports Washington Military Alliance

Tom Pierson, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber President & CEO, joined Governor Jay Inslee and more than 20 military and economic development leaders for the launch of the Washington Military Alliance (WMA), a diverse group of military and defense stakeholders representing industry, infrastructure, veteran, workforce and economic development interests across the state.

“The military and defense sector is an economic backbone for many Washington communities and a priority industry sector for economic development statewide,” Governor Inslee said. “As the DOD reduces military assets around the country, we want to make sure our communities and our military personnel are prepared and ready. By planning ahead, we can make sure Washington remains in a strong position to support our military and defense infrastructure, its diverse industry supply chain and the tens of thousands of jobs associated with this industry.”

“With Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) the major economic impact in Pierce County and the largest single-employer worksite in Washington State, our community recognizes the necessity of state leadership in sustaining the installation’s military mission,” said Pierson. “The state can help local efforts to chart a course through the challenges ahead and to take advantage of the inevitable opportunities that occur with anticipated changes,” he concluded.

In 2012, Washington’s military industry accounted for 136,000 jobs and $15.7 billion in economic activity. Washington is the sixth most military populous in the nation with personnel at bases and assets all throughout the state. The industry supports military personnel as well as civilian jobs in cybersecurity, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, clean technology, and information and communications technology. 

The WMA will provide a forum for collaboration in the state between local governments, military installations, state agencies, and federal agencies. It will serve as a policy advisor to the governor, other state agencies, the Legislature, and others. Inslee signed a memorandum of understanding with more than 20 military, business and economic development organizations from every corner of the state.

The group was originally convened to collaborate on production of the Washington Military Alliance Report, which identified impacts to Washington’s military and defense infrastructure and develop initial recommendations in response to a possible Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) action.

Army & Air Force Differ with Navy on BRAC

The different branches of the military appear to disagree on the need for a new Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round in the near future.

These three stories detail the thinking of Army, Air Force and Navy leadership:

•    US Army Leaders Push for Another BRAC Round

•    Admiral: Navy is not pushing for BRAC

•    Air Force Presentation before the Senate Appropriations Committee

Whether new base closures occur or not, it is clear from the Administration’s budget proposals that reductions in contracts and/or personnel are likely.

Smith Offers 2017 BRAC Amendment

House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith offered an amendment to the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act designed to allow the Department of Defense to find important savings that can be applied to urgent readiness and training requirements yet distinguish it from the previous round in important ways.

“Given that the last BRAC round transformed more than it closed and has cost more and saved less than original estimates, members of Congress have justifiable reservations about giving the Department of Defense authority to conduct another round. But this should be a congressionally led process. We have a stake in the outcome,” said Ranking Member Smith. “With these concerns in mind, this legislation will create a transparent, deliberative, and independent process. In order to protect military readiness and other important programs, Congress should provide authority for the next BRAC round and should adopt these reforms to strengthen the process and avoid the problems that plagued the previous round.”

A New BRAC Process

In light of current budget conditions, DoD cannot afford another “transformation” BRAC similar to the 2005 round. The next BRAC must be focused on generating savings. To ensure this, the proposal requires the Secretary of Defense to certify to Congress that the primary objective of a new BRAC round would be to eliminate excess infrastructure and reconfigure the remaining infrastructure to maximize efficiency. In addition, any realignments or changes to infrastructure must yield net savings within five years of completing the action, savings that could be applied to other readiness requirements sooner.

To control cost and scope, the proposal would require DoD to submit master plans for each recommendation transmitted to the independent BRAC commission. These master plans would include the costs, scope, and timing of each construction activity. As the commission adjusts recommendations, the master plans would also be adjusted. Once a closure or realignment is approved, the master plan associated with each closure or realignment would be the binding authority for expending funds from the BRAC account. Any proposal to carry out a construction activity not included in the master plan would require a specific authorization from Congress.

The proposal would strengthen the independent commission and improve transparency in the BRAC process. To do this, the commission would be required to certify that it has sufficient staff to review the Secretary of Defense’s recommendations, and additional time to consider public comments, receive testimony, and conduct additional site visits. In addition, the information used by the Secretary of Defense to develop recommendations would be made easily available to the public for review, including the unclassified assessment data on the condition of facilities and infrastructure, the environmental baseline of known contamination and remediation activities, and the standard rules used to calculate annual recurring savings.

“The Department of Defense estimates it has excess infrastructure capacity, and this excess takes money away from training, maintenance, and operations.  In the current budget environment, where important programs are being cut across the board, this is a waste of scare resources,” continued Smith.

BRAC Dead For Now

Not only will there not be a new base closure round in the immediate future, but the Pentagon will not be permitted to plan for one.

The House Armed Services Committee could have simply ignored DOD’s request for BRAC rounds in 2013 and 2015 - as the Readiness Subcommittee did when it marked up its portion of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill on April 27.

But instead -  it passed an amendment precluding the department from using FY 2013 appropriations “to propose, plan for or execute an additional BRAC round.”

Garrison Tells It Jointly

Col. Brittain (l) and Col. Weldon (r)

The Mililtary Affairs Committee's monthly Forum featured Joint Base Lewis-McChord Garrison Commander Col. Tommy Brittain (Army) and Deputy Commander Col. Kenny Weldon (Air Force) reporting on the implementation of the joint base operations.

Among the points of information, they announced a new website for Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Complementing this focus on joint basing was Jack Murphy, Associate with Booz, Allen, Hamilton, the local representative for the national effort to implement the 12 joint bases.

Getting Money Out of Your House

The Department of Defense (DoD) has issued eligibility rules for military homeowners who need to apply for assistance through the Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP) due to the housing crisis.

The DoD HAP has been providing financial assistance for many years, and most recently provided benefits to personnel at Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) sites.

The Stimulus Bill aka American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) included funding in legislation of $555 million for a program to help military personnel forced to sell their homes in the midst of the current real estate crisis. The funding from the 2009 ARRA will allow the DoD to temporarily expand the program in order to partially reimburse home sale losses in the following priority order:

• Wounded Servicemembers relocating for treatment or medical retirement, and for the survivors of those who have died while on deployment.


• Military & DoD civilians affected by the 2005 BRAC round, without the need to prove that the base closure caused the local market decline.


• Normal military permanent change of station (PCS) moves, on a temporary basis.

For more information read the news release.

Navy Beans to Butterbeans

The Department of the Navy invites public comment on a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for its disposal and a reuse of the NMCRC (Naval & Marine Corps Reserve Center) Tacoma.

The NMCRC was designated for closure under the 2005 BRAC process. As required by BRAC, the Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) concluded in its Redevelopment Plan that the highest and best use for the property is inclusion into the Port of Tacoma's Master Plan. The Port is a National Strategic Port.

The Port is proposing a comprehensive master redevelopment plan for the Blair Peninsula to transform the existing industrial and commercial scape into terminal facilities.

Copies of the Draft EA can be downloaded at the BRAC website. The public may submit comments by June 12, 2009 to:

Director, BRAC PMO West
Attn: Mr. Patrick McCay
1455 Frazee Road, Ste. 900
San Diego, CA 92108

... or via email.