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May 13, 2005
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The military's top leaders brief the media on
base realignment and closure recommendations at
the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
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El Segundo
base spared from military closure list
Updated: Defense Department list of base closures released
today spares South Bay facility that has been focus of $1
million lobbying effort.
Click here to
visit the US Department of Defense Base Realignment and
Closure Web site
Click here to
view this article from the Daily Breeze
WASHINGTON - The Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo
and several other major California military installations
will be spared from closure, according to a list released
today by the Defense Department.
The early morning announcement about the base in El Segundo
came as good news in the South Bay because the installation
had been considered one of the most at-risk facilities in
the state in this round of Pentagon base closures.
The main activity at the base is the Air Force Space and
Missile Systems Center and there had been some pressure to
move it to Colorado where its parent organization, the Air
Force Space Command, has its headquarters.
Community leaders around Los Angeles Air Force Base spent
more than a year on a nearly $1 million lobbying effort to
save their base, which designs and procures the military's
satellite systems. They got the good news while on a
conference call together early today.
"There was an awful lot of excitement and a lot of sighs of
relief," said Redondo Beach City Councilman John Parsons,
co-chairman of a regional alliance formed to protect the
base.
"But I think everybody recognizes that it's not over yet,
and we know there are people who still want the mission of
L.A. AFB to move to their community," he said.
The El Segundo facility is responsible for 50,000 related
jobs and $8 billion in contracts in Los Angeles County
alone.
Other California bases did not fare as well. Slated for
closure were the Concord Naval Weapons Station, the
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center in Encino, the Navy-Marine
Corps Reserve Center in Los Angeles and Onizuka Air Force
Station in Santa Clara County.
The single largest loss of personnel from a base closure --
892 workers -- would come from shutting down the Naval
Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division, in Riverside
County.
Statewide, the recommended closures and realignments would
cost 2,018 jobs.
"Overall, California's done very well," House Armed Services
Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, told California
reporters in a conference call. "I think we've emerged
relatively unscathed for the simple reason that in the first
four rounds of base closures California took major hits."
In Hunter's area of San Diego, home to many major bases,
some installations are losing or gaining personnel. Overall,
the region comes out about even.
The Defense Language Institute in Monterey, threatened in
past base closure rounds, would stay open.
Several major California bases would undergo realignments
resulting in big personnel losses or gains. Naval Air
Weapons Station China Lake would gain 2,469 personnel and
Naval Station San Diego would gain 1,170.
Naval Medical Center San Diego would lose 1,630 people,
Naval Base Ventura County would lose 1,534, Naval Base
Coronado would lose 460, Sacramento's Beale Air Force Base
would lose 179 and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton would
lose 144.
The Naval Medical Center San Diego provides medical care to
thousands of military personnel and their family members.
Under the recommendation, it would lose a medical training
mission that will be relocated to Fort Sam Houston in Texas,
along with similar missions from several other bases.
Naval Base Ventura County includes facilities in Port
Hueneme and Point Mugu that employ about 17,000 people. They
are home to commands that include the Seabees and a major
weapons division.
Today's news for California was a major turnaround from four
past base closure rounds, from 1988 to 1995, when the state
lost more than two dozen major bases and some 93,000 jobs --
a hit that accounted for nearly 30 percent of the total
bases cut nationwide. State officials have blamed the heavy
losses in part on the failure of the state to mount a
unified effort in support of bases.
This time around, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger lobbied
personally for the bases and appointed a first-ever
commission to promote their military value.
"You see a vastly different list, frankly, than we were
afraid we were going to see," said Rep. Ellen Tauscher,
D-Alamo, whose district is home to Travis Air Force Base,
which stayed off the list. "You saw a virtually united
congressional delegation, our two senators and the governor
working this."
Even with the losses in past base closure rounds, California
nonetheless remains home to more military installations than
any other state, accounting for 11.3 percent of the total
nationwide, according to the California Institute for
Federal Policy Research.
Rumsfeld's recommendations will go to an independent
nine-member commission that can alter his list before
sending it to the president and Congress.
LAAFB
Regional Alliance
Co-Chairs:
Joe Aro
(310)
792-0323
jaro@southbaypartnership.com
President,
South Bay Economic Development Partnership
Hon. John Parsons
(310)
729-5498
john.parsons@redondo.org
Councilmember, Redondo Beach
Chair,
South Bay Cities Council of Governments
Jerry Say
(310)
378-2100
jerry@landpoint.com
May 20, 2005
SAVING THE LOS ANGELES AIR
FORCE, THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER YET
Could LAAFB Still Be Placed on a Closure List?
Yes. Right now, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)
Commission is reviewing the Defense Department’s closure
list. One of the criteria BRAC will be considering is
ensuring that the Defense Department followed their own
established guidelines for determining which bases should be
realigned or closed.
In previous rounds of base closures, 10-15% of the list was
modified before submitting a final list to the president.
We can expect military and business interests from other
locations such as Colorado Springs, home of one of the Air
Force space facilities, to continue to lobby hard to move
LAAFB’s Space and Missile System’s Center (SMC) to their
region. Quite simply, the LAAFB Regional Alliance will fight
to ensure that SMC stays here where it belongs – at LAAFB.
LAAFB Protects Homeland Security
SMC is responsible for the design and procurement of the
military’s satellite systems. The Base staff and surrounding
aerospace companies—Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon,
Computer Sciences Corporation, The Aerospace Corporation,
and others —hold vast amounts of institutional knowledge
with respect to military technology.
The California Council on Base Support and Retention found
that 80% of senior engineers at LAAFB would be unwilling to
relocate should SMC be moved to another state.
SMC’s workers have invaluable knowledge, and the high
concentration of such brainpower cannot be replicated at a
new location.
In 2003, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board
specifically cited attrition of engineers when Boeing
transferred some design functions from Long Beach to Houston
as a factor in the loss of the Space Shuttle.
One single launch failure, of a satellite could cost as much
as $1 billion which would more than offset any cost savings
that might be achieved from relocation. Keeping SMC at LAAFB
keeps America safe.
Why is LAAFB important to California?
The Space and Missile Systems Center headquartered at LAAFB
manages approximately $60 billion in contracts at any given
time.
In a 2004 report, the Los Angeles Economic Development
Corporation (LAEDC) estimated that LAAFB is responsible for
direct and indirect employment of 50,000 jobs in Los Angeles
County and $8 billion in annual economic impact.
The base contributes a total of 112,000 jobs to California
and $16 billion in annual economic impact.
This economic driver generates over a third of $1 billion in
annual tax revenue to state and local governments in
California.
Ongoing Efforts to Protect LAAFB
In the coming months, LAAFB Regional Alliance will work to
build on established relationships, continue our public
education campaign, and work to prevent LAAFB from being
added to the BRAC Commission’s recommended closure list that
will be forwarded to President Bush on September 8. The
Alliance is available to provide materials, talking points,
and updates on our lobbying efforts.
BRAC Summer Timeline
May 16 – September 8
BRAC Commission reviews Defense Department’s Closure List
and holds series Regional Commission Meetings
September 8
BRAC Commission submits revised list of proposed base
realignments to President Bush. After reviewing the BRAC
Commission recommendations, the President will either accept
the list as submitted and forward to Congress within 15
days, or he will return the entire list to the BRAC
Commission for a second review.
April 20, 2005
Congresswoman Jane Harman Speaks on Economic Impact of the Los Angeles Air
Force Base
By Congresswoman Jane
Harman
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Jane Harman (D-Venice) is serving her 6th term
in California’s 36th Congressional District.
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Since the end of the Cold War,
the Pentagon has been reducing the number of military bases
throughout the country and abroad by a process called Base
Realignment and Closure (BRAC). In four previous BRAC
rounds, from 1988 through 1995, base closures resulted in
the loss of 173,919 base-related jobs – 54% of which were in
California. During that time, the South Bay saw a net loss
of more than 23,500 jobs.
The Department of Defense is expected to release another
BRAC list on May 13, which could include the Los Angeles Air
Force Base’s (LAAFB) Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC)
– a facility we have successfully defended in previous BRAC
rounds.
For this BRAC round, I have again joined with community
leaders and local elected officials throughout the South Bay
to rally support for the base. We created the LAAFB Regional
Alliance (www.laafballiance.com) to keep SMC right where it
belongs: in El Segundo.
In determining which bases to close, the Pentagon puts less
weight on the economic impacts closures have on the
community. It has mandated that military value be the
primary criterion. Clearly, the economic value of SMC to
Southern California and the entire state is enormous. But,
although it is a powerful economic engine, SMC’s most
important contribution is to our national security – and the
battle to save SMC must be won on this turf.
As the Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, I
know that shuttering SMC would significantly weaken our
efforts in fighting the war on terror. SMC has had an
unprecedented string of 42 consecutive successful,
operational launches of the satellites critical to
safeguarding our homeland and fighting our enemies abroad.
Surrounding and strengthening SMC is a powerful collection
of academic institutions and private firms that create an
unmatched intellectual synergy found nowhere else in the
country. Bolstering this strong foundation is 50 years of
intellectual capital cultivated by our national space
program and aerospace giants like Boeing, Northrop Grumman,
Raytheon, Computer Sciences Corporation and The Aerospace
Corporation.
Moving SMC to Colorado or New Mexico also risks a severe
“reverse” brain-drain. In its recently released report, The
California Council on Base Support and Retention found that
80% of senior engineers would be unwilling to relocate
should SMC’s function be sent elsewhere.
Chamber members know all too well about the importance of
institutional knowledge and staff retention. The key
personnel at SMC and the private sector constellation around
it are helping train the next generation of aerospace and
satellite scientists. Their knowledge is invaluable and
irreplaceable, and it cannot be replicated at a new
location. A single launch failure would offset any savings
achieved from relocation. To prevent that, we must protect
the infrastructure, regional cooperation and knowledge base
that successfully delivers the intelligence we need.
The importance of SMC cannot be overstated, and keeping its
home in El Segundo is not only good for business – it’s
critical to our national security. This is a battle
California can’t afford to lose.
For more information on SMC and the BRAC process, please
contact info@laafballiance.com
February 25, 2005
South Bay Chambers
Work Together to Save Los Angeles Air Force Base
The Redondo Beach Chamber and the Los
Angeles Air Force Base Regional Alliance have been active in the efforts to
retain Los Angeles Air Force Base. Leaders in all branches of California’s
local, state, and federal government have said that LAAFB is the primary base to
save in California. “Both U.S. Senators have supported the retention. We have
also been successful in getting key members of our California delegation in
Congress to do the same,” said John
Parsons, Alliance Co-Chair, Redondo Beach Councilman, and past chair of the
South Bay Council of Governments. “Last month when Congressman Jerry Lewis was
interviewed after he became Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, the
only base he mentioned was LAAFB,” Parsons said.
The Alliance’s media efforts have been
very effective, both nationally and locally, telling the story of LAAFB and its
synergy with industry and academia in the greater L.A. County area. Stories have
appeared in the national press, public television and on National Public Radio.
Less than a month ago, the Alliance hosted one of the six hearings held by the
Governor’s Council on Base Support and Retention. Prior to the hearing, the
Alliance arranged for seven members of the Council to go on a tour of LAAFB,
Aerospace Corporation and Northrop, followed by a dinner. Both events were very
successful and are typical of the many accomplishments of the Alliance.
“We look forward to the continued
support and involvement of our friends in the Chamber, and ask that they step up
their support as we head into the most important phase of the BRAC process,”
said Parsons. The President will name nine BRAC Commissioners by March 15, 2005
and the Pentagon will issue the recommended Closure List by May 16, 2005. The
Commission will review the list and make its recommendations to the President by
September 8, 2005.
The Alliance will continue to
communicate the message that the success of the Space and Missile Systems
Center, located at LAAFB, is dependant upon the critical symbiotic relationship
between the base, the aerospace industry, our first-class educational
institutions and the community. For more information on the Alliance and their
accomplishments, or to make a donation, please visit their web site;
www.laafballiance.com or contact Councilman John Parsons at
310-729-5498.
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