Draft of base closure rules due Dec. 31

| Friday, December 19, 2003

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RAPID CITY -- Dec. 31 is the final day for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield to publish the draft of the rules and guidelines the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission will use as it looks at closing or restructuring U.S. military bases, a local base closure expert said Thursday.

A 30-day public comment period will follow publication of the draft, Pat McElgunn, director of the Ellsworth Air Force Base Task Force said. The group, organized in the early 1990s, has worked to keep the local Air Force base off the list during previous rounds of closures.

According to material released by McElgunn Thursday, "Military value must be (a) primary evaluation factor" in keeping a military base open.

The fact that the loss of a base will create a financial hardship for a community isn't a consideration, McElgunn said.

The final set of rules is due out by Feb. 16, 2004, and the final list of bases to be cut or realigned has to be sent to the president by Sept. 8, 2005. The president has until Sept. 23, 2005, to approve or not approve the entire list. He can't make changes.

If the president does not approve the list, the commission has until Oct. 20, 2005, to submit a revised list and the president then has until that Nov. 7 to approve that list.

McElgunn and Michael Derby, a Rapid City businessman and chairman of the Ellsworth task force, said they want to ensure that not only is Ellsworth kept off the closure list but also is ready to take over one or more missions from bases that are closed.