Rumsfeld strongly defends Pentagon's base-closing list

The ongoing effort to ensure that the Youngstown Air Reserve Station stays one step ahead of the Pentagon's cost-cutters has received a boost from none other than Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
No, Rumsfeld didn't single out the Vienna Township facility for high praise, which he could easily justify doing given the excellent ratings it has received over the years. But his recent comments about the base-closing list he developed are cause for optimism.
Rumsfeld warned the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which is reviewing the list of facilities the Defense Department wants to close or realign, that there is a symmetry to the Bush administration's goal of streamlining the services across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
"One must be careful about taking a selective look at individual components or pieces of these recommendations without considering how those components or pieces fit into the larger whole," the defense secretary told commission members. He contended that tinkering with even one facility could unravel plans for entire sections of the U.S. defense network.
In other words, those facilities, including the Youngstown Air Reserve Station, that were excluded from the list have been deemed to be important to the defense network.
In defending the plan announced last week to close nearly 180 military installations, Rumsfeld has said, "Current arrangements pretty much designed for the Cold War must give way to new demands of war against extremists and other evolving 21st Century challenges."
By streamlining the services, shutting down bases deemed inefficient and promoting cooperation among the four branches, the Pentagon expects to save $48.8 billion over 20 years.
Eliminating redundancy
Indeed, commission members, led by Anthony Principi, former head of the Veterans Administration, expressed support for the administration's goal of eliminating redundancy and expenses by consolidating support offices and some operations across the four services.
In response to Rumsfeld's warning about tinkering with the closing list, Principi said it would make the work of the nine-member commission harder, but that the defense secretary's comments were well taken.
He talked about looking at the "seamless whole and not just an individual military installation."
That's good news for the Youngstown base because not only was it kept off the closing list, but its mission has been expanded.
Evidently, the Pentagon sees the facility, which is adjacent to the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, as an important cog in the nation's defense wheel.
Given this, we applaud the effort by local officials to ensure that the defense department has the most accurate and up-to-date information about the base. There's no harm in the Mahoning Valley's being prepared for the worst, such as the Youngstown station being added to the list by the commission. The panel has conducted public hearings and will now spend the next four months reviewing Rumsfeld's recommendations. Commissioners will conduct at least 15 regional hearings and visit the affected bases.
It is fortunate that Operation: Save Our Airbase Reservists, the grass-roots organization that is leading the campaign to keep the base from closing, isn't taking anything for granted. There can be no let up in the push to ensure that decision-makers at every level of the federal government know how important the station is to this nation's defense needs and how cost-effective it is.