Lawmakers encourage support for base plan

They say state leaders need to back proposal

By Childs Walker | Sun Staff

May 24, 2005

Maryland business and government leaders need to be vocal in support of Pentagon plans to realign the nation's military bases to help counter political opposition that will not end until the fall, two area congressmen told a gathering of business owners yesterday.

Reps. Benjamin L. Cardin and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger said the plans - which include bringing about 5,300 new jobs to Fort Meade and 6,600 to the state overall - will face wide challenges from elected officials in states that are losing jobs. President Bush is scheduled to submit his final list of base closings and expansions to the Pentagon in November.

Elected leaders from Connecticut to Alabama have fiercely criticized the proposed closings of 180 small and large bases. But Maryland officials have pointed to the virtues of realignment, saying the shift of jobs to Fort Meade recognizes the growing importance of intelligence and technology in modern warfare.

"We thought that any objective review would be good news for us," Cardin said at the meeting of Anne Arundel County business owners that was held in Odenton.

Ruppersberger said that when he took office, he saw widespread fear among colleagues about impending base closings. But he said he was never nervous.

The process "is really about being efficient," he said. "And our facilities are providing significant support for what we need in the war against terrorism."

Both congressmen acknowledged that many of their colleagues are unhappy and will be fighting to shift some of the jobs from Maryland to other states. Cardin, who recently announced a U.S. Senate bid for 2006, said Maryland will compete with states such as New Jersey and Kentucky that would lose large bases under the Pentagon's plans.

"What we need to do is be supportive of the process," Cardin said. "We think it makes sense to consolidate, and we think it makes sense to consolidate services at Fort Meade."

Cardin encouraged business and political leaders to support the plan at a realignment commission hearing in Baltimore on July 8.

Local and state officials have reacted happily to the realignment news. Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens has spent the last few years promoting the county as a growing center for the defense industry. The expansion at Meade is a validation of that effort, she said.

The round of base closures will be the first in a decade. The Pentagon is recommending shuttering about 180 military installations, including more than 30 major bases. Nearly 30,000 jobs would be eliminated in an effort to save $50 billion over 20 years.

But the Pentagon's plans contained plenty of good news for Maryland, which would receive the second-largest net job increase of any state.

The state's largest bases, Fort Meade and Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County, would take in thousands of civilian personnel. And bases that were seen as vulnerable, such as the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in St. Mary's County, survived with few proposed cuts.

The news was not all good for Maryland. Bethesda could lose about 3,000 jobs if the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency consolidates several Maryland, Washington and Virginia offices into one future location at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The Martin State Airport Air Guard Station, north of Baltimore, would lose 123 jobs, and its eight C-130J aircraft would be relocated to bases in California and Rhode Island.

Though some of the 5,300 jobs at Meade would be filled with transfers from other bases, the shifts would create high-paying positions that might be filled by area residents, the congressmen said.

"When you look at the history of these situations, a significant number of employees do not move," Cardin said. "So there are always opportunities in the facilities that get extra spots."

Cardin and Ruppersberger said the realignment would not only create on-base jobs but would bolster private-sector firms around Fort Meade and other bases.

"It brings us a lot of opportunities not just for the large companies but for smaller companies that are producing just remarkable technology," Cardin said.

Eight of the nation's 10 largest defense contractors have offices in Anne Arundel, and National Security Agency officials have spoken of developing a technology corridor between Washington and their headquarters at Fort Meade.

Both congressmen said they will work with local officials to create the school, road and housing capacity to accommodate a job increase. Anne Arundel officials say they are not worried about the influx because they have long expected Fort Meade to be a center for growth.

Ruppersberger echoed those thoughts, saying, "We still have a lot of open land on the corridor."

Some people at yesterday's meeting said area leaders need to find out exactly how many extra commuters will be going to the base.

"It would be useful to know how much we need to enhance the transportation options that are already here," said H. Walter Townshend III, president and chief executive officer of the Baltimore-Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce.

Cardin and Ruppersberger said the realignment process is not far enough along for them to know specifics. They will seek more detailed breakdowns of likely commuting patterns for new employees, they said.