Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst prepares for new defense cuts
The sprawling military base in Burlington and Ocean Counties has dodged serious cutbacks over the last two decades while other sites have been closed or downsized.
The sprawling military base in Burlington and Ocean Counties has dodged serious cutbacks over the last two decades while other sites have been closed or downsized.
Now Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is preparing a new defense as President Obama seeks congressional authorization for a base realignment and closure process in 2013 and 2015.
The administration plans to slash $487 billion out of the defense budget over the next 10 years, in part by reducing the inventory of bases "beyond our needs and ability to maintain," Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Jan. 26 at the Pentagon.
"We've already reduced too much," said Rep. Jon Runyan (R., N.J.), who is concerned "that we will get into another conflict and not have what we need. . . . You have to be prepared."
Runyan, whose Third District includes the base, is working with the Defense Enhancement Coalition - a local group of about 25 community, business, and former military leaders - to head off cuts.
"There are more than 44,000 servicemen and women, civilians, and their families who work or live in the area," Runyan said. "We should be bringing more missions here."
The three-service base is the second-largest employer in New Jersey after state government, he said, and its closing or cutback "would have devastating consequences on the regional economy."
Runyan, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Obama's request for a new Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process would likely be rejected when it goes before that body in April or May.
But previous BRAC processes have been passed after being included in larger Defense Department legislation crafted by a House-Senate conference committee.
So Runyan and the coalition are gearing up for battle. They have been meeting with local, state, and federal officials to discuss strategies aimed at saving the 60-square-mile base - and picking up units from other installations that may be closed.
"We will be ready," said former Rep. Jim Saxton, who fought a number of times to preserve the base in his 25 years as a congressman. "I would feel uncomfortable not being prepared."
"We've worked through five BRACs, and we understand the process," said Saxton, a registered lobbyist representing defense contractors, who is leading the coalition along with a retired Fort Dix commander, Army Col. Michael Warner of Southampton. "We're not taking a chance on losing it."
If the BRAC process is approved, a base could be closed or lose a mission. It also could be unaffected or receive a new mission, as the Joint Base did when Marine Aircraft Group 49 Headquarters moved there after the closing of Pennsylvania's Willow Grove Naval Air Station as part of the BRAC realignment in 2005.
Warner and Saxton said they wanted lawmakers to have the information they need to protect the joint base.
"We want data available to help them," Warner said. "We want to provide studies and develop arguments to explain what missions could be relocated here. We can grow aviation missions here.
"If you wait until you're on the [BRAC] list, you're already behind the eight ball," he said. "Now, you have to argue to have the recommendation changed."
Fort Dix was affected by base changes in 1988, losing the basic training mission that had introduced tens of thousands of soldiers to the military since 1917.
But the fort's supporters in the military and Congress helped attract the Reserve and Guard, which have used the base to train as many as 15,000 troops on many weekends.
That mission, along with a heavy dependence on the part-time soldiers, helped make the fort a key player in the mobilization of troops for Operation Noble Eagle (homeland security), Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Guantánamo Bay. With BRAC emphasis on streamlining operations and saving money, Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base, and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst began working more closely, becoming a joint base in 2005 that shared services and facilities.
The Joint Base expanded with tens of millions of dollars in public and private funding for construction - including a new urban-warfare training center, housing for military families, and other improvements.
But those investments won't stop a commission from scrutinizing the base.
The president wants Congress to authorize a new BRAC process "with the goal of identifying additional savings and implementing them as soon as possible," Panetta said Jan. 26.
"The defense budget is being reduced substantially," Saxton said. "Technology allows us to do more with fewer people.
"Our base structure [across the country] is based on World War II, when we had more people under arms and needed lots of space for training and equipment," he said. "Now there's a need for fewer bases with a shrinking defense budget."
In the end, Saxton said, the joint base seems well-positioned to survive another BRAC review and may even get new equipment and duties.
"We want to grow the base," he said. "It has a significant impact on our economy."
The economic effect has been determined to be more than $7 billion, 1.7 percent of the overall state economy, Warner said.
No one knows that influence better than Wrightstown Mayor Tom Harper, who owns a gas and car-repair station near one of the base's main gates. "It's crucial for Wrightstown," he said. "Without it, Wrightstown would dry up and blow away.
"Hopefully, BRAC leaves us alone and maybe we'll get the assets from other, smaller bases that will be closed," he said.