Is BRAC 2013 dead?

Lawmakers are taking issue with the Pentagon over the request for two new BRAC rounds. One reason lawmakers are balking is the high cost of a BRAC at a time of belt tightening. Savings won't come for years. Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., the chair and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Armed Services' Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee, both denounced the Pentagon's request for a base closure round in 2013. McCaskill said she's willing to allow the closure of bases overseas, but not domestic bases at this point. Unless the Pentagon can change her mind, her opposition kills a 2013 BRAC round. (Sources: Defense Communities Daily, Navy Times, 03/21/12) Meanwhile, the Pentagon said the request for two new rounds of BRAC should be compared to the cost effectiveness of the first four BRAC rounds, not those done in 2005 to transform installations to match force structure. (Source: American Forces Press Services, 03/21/12)