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Locals to feel pinch of base closings

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

The now-likely closing of Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem will certainly be felt in Fayette and Coweta counties.

The decision of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission means that an office of the U.S. Army Reserve in Peachtree City also will close. The office, which houses network operations and telecommunications support employees, will result in the loss of 162 jobs, 65 of which are military, officials said.

A number of active military and civilian contractors also live in Fayette, which boasts one of the highest concentrations of military veterans in the metro Atlanta area, with more than 11,000 according to the 2000 Census. Coweta County hosts more than 9,100 military veterans, according to the Census report.

There is no firm number for exactly how many locals work at military bases although, Brian Cardoza of the Fayette County Development Authority said Thursday.

Earlier this year, retired Brig. Gen. Philip Y. Browning, a Peachtree City resident who has been working with state officials on the Base Realignment and Closure program, said it is little surprise why military families move to Fayette. They often seek out the best schools when relocating to a new military installation, he said.

State officials like Gen. Browning have been working on alternate plans for redevelopment of the bases recommended for closure, including Forts McPherson and Gillem, Naval Air Station Atlanta in Marietta and the Naval Supply Corps base in Athens.

Although the closings have the potential to have a significant impact on the area, Georgia stands to gain thousands more military-related jobs even after the base closings are taken into account.

The last chance for one of the bases to wiggle off the list stands with President George W. Bush, who will review the BRAC commission’s recommendations and could possibly tweak them, officials said.

A team of Georgia legislators has worked to try and keep the bases off the closure list. Gov. Sonny Perdue said every effort was made to demonstrate the critical roles Ft. McPherson and Ft. Gillem play in the military and “the economic reasons they should remain open.”

“The Pentagon and the BRAC Commissioners have decided differently and we are deeply disappointed by their decision,” Perdue said in a statement Wednesday. “Nevertheless, we are prepared to begin work immediately on redevelopment plans for these properties thanks to the community organizations we have had in place throughout this process.”

U.S. Congressman David Scott noted that both installations “have been very instrumental in coordinating the war in Iraq and mobilizing Army Reserve and National Guard forces to the front lines.”

“Hopefully, the President will agree with us that now is not the time to downsize our military by such drastic measures as closing the bases in Atlanta when the world stage is presenting us with extraordinary terror concerns,” Scott said in a statement Wednesday.