Before Congress takes any step toward implementing another round of military base closures, as recommended by the Pentagon, it should make sure all military work is being done by the military and not by private contractors.
A Pentagon review of post-Cold War readiness has shown some bases operating at less than capacity and yet President Clinton is determined to go ahead with what he terms "privatization in place," a plan to turn over to private contractors work formerly done at two military bases designated for closure.The plan would put Utah's Hill Air Force Base in jeopardy in a future round of base closures.
Kelly Air Force Base, Texas, and McClellan Air Force Base, Calif., two repair-and-maintenance depot bases, were ordered closed two years ago. Clinton promised those states, which were key to his re-election last year, that he would save the jobs there by turning them over to non-military companies.
A smart move politically, the "privatization in place" plan has been deemed an economic boondoggle. The General Accounting Office, a research arm of Congress, estimates privatizing the jobs would cost $182 million per year more than redistributing the work to other, underutilized Air Force bases.
Key senators have criticized the plan for its cost, its inefficiency in increasing overhead costs at bases that have more than 50 percent "excess capacity" and for siphoning money from military programs, including building C-17, F-22 and F/A-18 aircraft.
Several lawmakers said the original privatization plan would violate open-bidding laws that require a 60-40 split of public-to-private work in the Air Force depot system. Recent changes in the proposal to meet the 60-40 split would result in the same outcome - private companies doing the work that should go to other military bases.
It simply doesn't make sense to give military jobs to private contractors and close bases because of a lack of work. Consolidation of the military workload at bases remaining open after the previous round of closures would be the most efficient way to maintain readiness.
Pentagon officials are proposing cutting the 1.4 million active-duty force by 60,000 men and women and eliminating hundreds of warplanes from planned purchases by the Air Force and Navy. The savings are needed in order to pay for high-tech weaponry for the next century.
Before approving such massive cuts, the Pentagon should do all it can to make current military operations as cost-efficient as possible, and that means eliminating the privatization-in-place plan.