Base Closure in the 1990s. The All-or-Nothing Approach.

摘要

The allocation of Defense dollars particularly in the case of permanent basing of ships, planes, and troops has been of great interest to the bureaucracy. By the late 1980s, Congress recognized the difficult task facing DoD in trying to reduce the Defense budget through base closings. But Congress had and still has a vested interest in base closings as evidenced by Secretary Cheney's quote above. As a means of serving the nation's best interests, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 was enacted by Congress. Its purpose was to 'ensure a timely, independent, and fair process for closing and realigning U. S. military installations' that were in excess to a post-Cold War base force. This paper will evaluate the base closure process as a study of bureaucratic politics by following this outline: (1) The Problem a review of past base closures; (2) The Actors an analysis of parochial interests and bureaucratic politics. A Solution a review of the Base Closure Act of 1990. The Results the impact of the 1991 Base Closure Commission and beyond.