Rumsfeld: Cuts will be lighter

Closures could save $48 billion over a 20-year period, the defense secretary predicted.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
WASHINGTON -- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld offered a ray of hope Thursday to jittery military towns nationwide: The Pentagon has decided it needs to cut only between 5 percent and 10 percent of its overall infrastructure -- far less than originally thought.
Whether the dramatic drop was the result of lobbying efforts or the reality of fighting a long-term war on terrorism, Rumsfeld said that the older figures would simply not work.
"We'd been told that we had 20 to 25 percent excess capacity ... but without a lot of precision to that [calculation]," Rumsfeld said, referring to studies from the late 1990s and early 2001 he had often cited.
"As it turns out, the actual number is less than that," Rumsfeld said, "somewhere between 5 and 10 percent."
Reasons for the lower figure
One of the biggest elements that factored in the change is the return home of 170,000 troops, family members and contractors based in Europe and Asia.
Second, Rumsfeld said, is that the Defense Department is focusing more on cutting leased space to save money, moving those occupants onto military facilities. The department owns 261,000 buildings and leases 8,200 buildings.
Third, unpredictable threats require adequate space to accommodate a rapid buildup, Rumsfeld said.
"There are fewer major base closures due in part to the return of tens of thousands of troops," Rumsfeld said. But it will still deliver a hard blow to some towns that have "warmly embraced" the military.
He said the recommended closures, expected to be released today, would result in a total savings of $48 billion over 20 years.