Scott AFB Holds Its Breath While BRAC 05 Marches On By Sue Britt In 1993, a small business based in Lanham, Md., TRI-COR Industries Inc., was contracted to do a project for Scott Air Force Base (AFB). “That’s how we got our start here,” remembers David Snyder, business development manager of TRI-COR. TRI-COR works with the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) and the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command (AMC) to develop and improve the transportation system and management of data. Today 125 people—half of TRI-COR’s employees—are located in its O’Fallon, Ill., office. But now the future of that office could be unsure—along with tens of thousands of jobs in the region that are supported by the presence of Scott AFB. The Department of Defense believes the military may have 20 to 25 percent more infrastructure capacity than it needs, and Congress has authorized a base realignment and closure (BRAC) round in 2005. The entrance to Scott Air Force Base. Previous rounds of cuts in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995 closed a total of 97 major bases and realigned 55 more; and another 235 minor installations were subject to either closure or realignment. But BRAC 2005 could be the biggest slash yet. Experts say the latest round’s cuts could exceed the other four combined. Snyder has no idea whether Scott AFB will be axed—the list of recommended closures isn’t expected until May 2005—but one thing is certain: TRI-COR would not exist in this region if the base shut its doors. “For us, wherever AMC headquarters went, our contracts would go,” Snyder says. Snyder says his 125 employees are just a small portion of the highly skilled workforce in the region. “It’s been reputed that this area around Scott is one of the highest technical areas in the nation,” Snyder says. “There’s a high degree of knowledge here that I don’t think a lot of people realize.” Another example: Digital Net in O’Fallon specializes in database and system administrations, Web systems development, and program management support, all primarily for USTRANSCOM and the Air Force Communications Agency. BRAC 2005 Timeline Action: Final Selection Criteria (accomplished). Not later than this date the Secretary of Defense shall “publish in the Federal Register and transmit to the congressional defense committees the final criteria to be used in making recommendations for the closure and realignment of military installations inside the United States.” Deadline: Feb. 16, 2004 Action: Nomination of Commissioners. Not later than this date, the President must transmit to the Senate nominations for the appointment of [nine] new members to the Defense Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) Commission. Deadline: March 15, 2005 Action: Secretary of Defense Recommendations. Not later than this date, the Secretary must publish in the Federal Register and transmit to the congressional defense committees and the Commission, a list of the military installations that the Secretary recommends for closure or realignment. Deadline: May 16, 2005 Action: Commission’s Recommendations. Not later than this date, the Commission must transmit to the President “a report containing its findings and conclusions based on a review and analysis of the Secretary’s recommendations.” Deadline: Sept. 8, 2005 Action: President’s Approval or Disapproval of Commission Recommendations. Not later than this date, the President shall transmit to the Commission and to the Congress, “a report containing the President's approval or disapproval of the Commission’s recommendations.” If the President approves the recommendations, the recommendations are binding 45 “legislative” days after Presidential transmission…unless Congress enacts joint resolution of disapproval. Deadline: Sept. 23, 2005 Action: Commission’s Revised Recommendations. If the President disapproves the Commission’s initial recommendations, the Commission must submit revised recommendations to the President not later than this date. Deadline: Oct. 20, 2005 Action: President’s Approval or Disapproval of Revised Recommendations. The President must approve the revised recommendations and transmit approval to Congress by this date or the process ends. The recommendations become binding 45 “legislative” days after Presidential transmission…unless Congress enacts joint resolution of disapproval. Deadline: Nov. 7, 2005 Action: Commission terminates. Deadline: April 15, 2006 Source: U.S. Department of Defense “Over the years the government has depended more and more on these contracted services,” Bill Lawrence, Digital Net’s manager of St. Louis operations says. “I’ve got 17 people. Typically the companies [at Scott] have anywhere from 150 down to 15.” Without question, Digital Net would leave the area without Scott, Lawrence says. “The jobs would definitely go out of here. There wouldn’t be anything for them to do,” he says. Small businesses aren’t the only companies that rely on Scott. With over 13,000 civilian and military personnel, Scott is the largest employer in Illinois south of Springfield, and the fourth largest employer in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. But Lawrence says the repercussions would go far beyond the immediate loss of government contractors. “We’re part of the community, just like the military [personnel] that come and go,” Lawrence says. “It’d be dramatic [if Scott closed]. It would be a major body blow to this community.” Area leaders say the people who make their living at Scott are an integral part of area schools, churches, little leagues, and other organizations—all of which would be greatly impacted if Scott closed. “It’s not just the economic contribution,” says U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Ill. “It’s also the contribution of the men and women from Scott that impacts the community.” TRI-COR would not exist in this region if the base shut its door. Sam McGowen, superintendent of the Mascoutah Community Unit School District No. 19, strongly agrees. More than half the district’s students come from military families stationed at Scott. The district receives $9 million a year in federal impact aid funding to help support that population, but McGowen says the cultural contributions of students who come from military families is as great a value. Simply put, Mascoutah would not be the same district without the sons and daughters of service men and women. “We would lose the contributions that come from our students who come from all over the country. In the instructional process, students bring to their classes their backgrounds. Students learn from other students,” McGowen says. “It makes for an excellent blend. I don’t know if you could put a dollar value on that.” One of the efforts of area political leaders is to get the Pentagon to change Scott’s classification from a “large airplane facility” to a “headquarters.” This makes sense, they say, because there are only nine airplane tankers on the base, and the three C-9 medical evacuation aircraft stationed there are due to be phased out. “Few airplanes call Scott home,” says John Baricevic, chairman of the St. Clair County Board. “[The BRAC Commission] should categorize the base for what it is: a headquarters.” One of Scott AFB’s major components is the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command. The fact Scott is headquarters to USTRANSCOM—one of only nine “unified combatant commands”—may help save Scott AFB from this round of base closings, Costello says. The USTRANSCOM headquarters itself has three major components: the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command (also headquartered at Scott), the Navy’s Military Sealift Command, and the Army’s Military Traffic Management Command. Combined, USTRANSCOM is the single manager of America’s global defense transportation system. “Everything that moves in the U.S. military [is handled through Scott],” Costello says. “It would not be very simple to pick up and move.” For this reason and more, he is hopeful about the future of Scott. “We are in a stronger position than ever before. We have made significant improvements over the past several years.” This includes 850 new family housing units, a new school and day care center, and a new commissary. Perhaps most importantly is the recently-extended military runway, along with a second, 10,000-foot runway provided by Scott’s joint-use partner, MidAmerica Airport. MidAmerica, which the military uses extensively, strengthens Scott’s position, Costello notes. Indeed, if history is any indication, the base could actually expand in the wake of the next round of cuts. During BRAC 1995, Scott gained more than 800 new jobs. “We not only were successful in keeping Scott open, but we brought in the 126th Refueling Wing,” Costello says. This added another $38 million to the regional economy, Costello says—something he would like to see repeated. “I intend to lead the fight, not only to keep Scott open, but to convince them that we can handle additional missions,” he says. “This is not a campaign just to keep Scott Air Force Base, but to try and attract other missions to Scott.” For his part, Baricevic is taking nothing for granted. “It’s a continual effort,” he says. In the meantime, area businesspeople and political leaders will anxiously wait for at least another year. The nine-member BRAC Commission will not receive the Pentagon’s recommendations until May 2005, and a final decision will not be made by the commission until the fall of that year. In the meantime, there will be little or no clues for the worried communities across the U.S. “The Pentagon listens, but this is not a conversation,” Baricevic says. “They don’t talk back.” Sue Britt is a freelance writer based in Belleville.

May 2004 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sean Sovacool tries mastering the Senior Open. special regional airport section. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.stlrcga.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.technologygateway.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Joshua Scheck glimpses inside the storm. George Tompras and Renee Bogdanos of Kreis’ Restaurant. In the Spotlight, HALE IRWIN.