Carolinas spared in Pentagon proposal

History, Local Lobbying Pay Off for Region

May 14, 2005

Tim Funk and Henry Eichel, Charlotte Observer
WASHINGTON - While other states reeled at the likelihood of losing major military installations and their jobs, the Carolinas exhaled Friday as the Pentagon released its long-dreaded list of proposed base closings and realignments.

Only four military bases in the Carolinas, none of them large, were targeted for closing. And several bases — including Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C., and especially Fort Bragg in Fayetteville — would see their missions and payrolls grow.

The good news came after months of behind-the-scenes lobbying by a bipartisan coalition of political and community leaders. And it offered fresh evidence that the two states’ military-friendly environment have made the Carolinas “the preferred destination” for the armed forces, as one top defense analyst put it Friday.

“Both states have built up their bases over the decades, so that they’re capable and look good on paper,” said Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, a think tank in Arlington, Va.

The Carolinas did take some hits:

A realigned Pope Air Force Base will lose scores of planes and more than 4,000 military personnel if the Pentagon’s recommendations survive reviews by a presidential commission, President Bush and Congress.

The Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station will lose 656 civilian jobs — and see its military hospital downsized to a clinic.

Two facilities in the Charleston area — the Defense Accounting and Finance Service and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command’s Southern Division — will close, costing the city 920 jobs.

But S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford, citing Charleston’s diverse economy and strong population growth, said, “If there is one part of South Carolina that can absorb a loss in jobs, it is that area.”

U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., whose district includes Cherry Point, Seymour Johnson and Camp Lejeune, called the Pentagon’s list “positive news” for Eastern North Carolina — home to several military bases.

And compensating for Pope Air Force Base’s grim numbers was the spike envisioned for Fort Bragg, Fayetteville’s other major base. It will become the new home of 4,000 troops, many now stationed in Europe. And moving in next door, at what is now Pope, will be FORSCOM, the nerve center of the Army.

“It’s the Army’s Pentagon,” said Rep. Robin Hayes, R-N.C., a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Hayes and others cited a combination of factors for North Carolina’s good showing Friday.

In Raleigh, state laws were enacted and spending approved to upgrade military facilities and grant in-state tuition and other benefits for military families.

Military towns took action, too, often to keep development from encroaching on military-owned land. This year, Goldsboro and Wayne County also enacted zoning ordinances to protect the air space surrounding Seymour Johnson.

An aggressive lobbying campaign headed by Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., in Washington and Democratic Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue in Raleigh may also have helped sway the Pentagon.

Dole personally spoke with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. And on Friday, she reminded reporters that she also convened a meeting in her office in which she, Perdue and House members lobbied Phil Grone, deputy undersecretary for defense installations.

For more high-powered help, the state paid $200,000 to Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice — a law firm whose members include former N.C. Gov. Jim Hunt, a Democrat, and Jimmy Broughton, a top aide to longtime GOP Sen. Jesse Helms.

Also working for North Carolina, some said Friday, was its natural and historical advantages — lots of land, a prime spot on the East Coast, and a large and long-lasting military presence.

Fort Bragg’s stature as the home of the 82nd Airborne also didn’t hurt, said Christopher Hellman, a military policy analyst with the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation.

“With Bragg and Pope next door, it seems like the Pentagon wanted to tear down the fences (by realigning Pope) and create a superbase,” Hellman said.

That suggests an even greater role for Fort Bragg in a post-Cold War military charged with fighting the war on terror.

“Rapid deployment, light mobile forces — the 82nd has always prided itself on being the first to fight,” Hellman said. “That’s the way of the 21st century.”

As for South Carolina: Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, pointed to efforts to improve Shaw Air Force Base as reasons for its Friday showing.

Said Spratt: “We have rebuilt Shaw from top to bottom.”