Force Rumsfeld to defend every new base closing

Jeepers, the Chronicle's Gang of Three thinks that the Sec. Def and the Joint Chiefs don't nothin' 'bout base closings. The Chronicle's Military geniuses are "stunned". Maybe they could use some up front experience honing their skills on the front lines in Iraq?
Force Rumsfeld to defend every new base closing: "Force Rumsfeld to defend every new base closing
Thursday, May 19, 2005
One might have thought that four rounds of stateside military base closings -- in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995 -- would have been enough for the Pentagon to achieve the efficiency and streamlining it needed.
But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wants more, having just proposed closing 33 major bases, including Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, the Groton (Conn.) Submarine Base and America's oldest but still highly capable Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine. All of these facilities represent major parts within the strategic core of U.S. military power. For America's Secretary of Defense to recommend these bases closed without a whimper from the Joint Chiefs of Staff is just stunning.
So debate, as it should, will be intense over this latest list of proposed closures as they are reviewed by the independent Base Realignment and Closure Commission before being presented to President Bush for approval in September.
Take Portsmouth, for example, an installation the Navy just cited as having 'consistently and superbly performed their mission while establishing a phenomenal record of cost, schedule, quality and safety performance.' Obviously Navy ships, from small frigates to nuclear-power aircraft carriers, are incredibly costly and complex, and must be maintained and upgraded in order to fill their mission reliably. Closing bases like Portsmouth narrows the list of experienced shipyards to a tenuous few. These are vital assets.
The Groton submarine base could serve as another example of how the nation's strategic defense stands in danger of being compromised for what appear to be dubious savings. Groton's irreplace"