DoD wants more BRACS

The Defense Department plans to ask Congress for two new military base closure rounds in for 2015 and 2017, according to a former defense official. The Pentagon made the same request last year, but it went nowhere. Only Congress can authorize a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round. Critics say closing bases does not produce immediate savings and costs more upfront. The 2005 BRAC was not completed until the fall of 2011. (Source: Politico, 02/28/13) Gulf Coast note: The Naval Medical Research Laboratory at Naval Air Station Pensacola was realigned in the last BRAC, and only last year was it moved to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.