BASE CLOSINGS

BASE CLOSINGS
Work for members of panel to begin
One served as transportation secretary under the first President Bush.
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON -- The nine members of the 2005 base-closure commission will get a "boot camp" of sorts before Congress today when they are sworn in and begin two days of hearings on what size and shape the military should take to better prepare for future wars.
Its members include the first black pilot to fly for the Air Force Thunderbirds, former congressmen and retired military. The group is to decide which of the nation's bases should stay open, which should be modified and which should close.
Even though it is regarded as beneficial to have a "home state" member on the panel, commissioners have to refrain from voting on a base when there's a conflict of interest.
Here's a look at the nine people who will become familiar to towns across the United States as they visit installations listed for closure:
Their backgrounds
U Commission chairman Anthony Principi may have a sense of "been here before." He recently oversaw a similar process with veterans' hospitals. As former secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Principi heard arguments about how closing or cutting hospitals would impact local economies and the veterans living in them.
U James Bilbray is a Democratic former congressman from Nevada (1987-1995) who served on the House Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Intelligence committees. After leaving Congress, Bilbray joined the private firm Kummer Kaempfer Bonner & amp; Renshaw, where he was just honored by peers in Clark County, Nev., for reaching his 40th year of practicing law.
U Philip Coyle of California was the Pentagon's director of operational testing and evaluation for new missile defense systems from 1994 to 2001. Since then, he has advised Congress through his position with the independent Center for Defense Information.
U Retired Adm. Harold Gehman Jr. was the commander in chief for the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., until he retired in 2000. When considering a targeted base's joint-mission potential, Gehman will be able to turn to his experiences leading the joint command, which coordinates training and operations among services.
U Republican James Hansen served in the House from 1981 to 2003, and was known on Capitol Hill for his chairmanship of the so-called Depot Caucus. In 1995, he fought to have a base-closure commission's independence maintained even though it would cost Utah the Ogden Depot, after last-minute changes by the Clinton administration sought to alter two of the commission's recommendations.
U Retired Army Gen. James Hill joined the Army as an infantryman from El Paso, Texas, and spent 36 years in the service. He retired after serving as commander of the U.S. Southern Command in Miami.
U Retired Air Force fighter pilot Gen. Lloyd Warren Newton of Florida flew 269 combat missions over Vietnam and was the first black pilot selected to fly with the U.S. Air Force's elite Thunderbirds demonstration team. He has piloted the F-117 stealth fighter and other fighter planes. He served as commander of bases across the United States, including installations in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
U Former Army reservist Samuel Skinner of Illinois served as the White House chief of staff and transportation secretary for President George H.W. Bush.
U Retired Brig. Gen. Sue Ellen Turner of Texas served in the Air Force for 30 years, most recently as director of nursing services for the Air Force surgeon general. She is a member of the American Battle Monuments Commission.