Nevada military bases unlikely to face closures

Thursday, Sept. 27, 2001 | 10:07 a.m.

LAS VEGAS SUN AND WIRE REPORTS

WASHINGTON -- Nevada's six military bases, including Nellis Air Force Base northeast of Las Vegas, are in little danger of closure, the state's lawmakers in Congress said.

The Senate this week approved a measure authorizing an independent commission to recommend base closures for 2003, despite pending military actions in the war on terrorism. The measure was part of a bill that authorized a $343 billion budget for the Defense Department next year.

Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., voted for the budget bill, confident Nevada bases would survive a review unscathed, their aides said. In fact, Nellis and Fallon Naval Air Station in Northern Nevada likely would get more money if bases closed nationwide, Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor said.

"They would consolidate resources in places that are high-profile, like Top Gun at Fallon and also Nellis," Naylor said.

The House did not address base closures in its Defense Department budget bill. A committee of House and Senate lawmakers in the next few weeks are expected to reach a final agreement on the base closure commission.

Nevada's bases are too important to the nation to close and would not be at risk, the Nevada lawmakers said. Nellis is unusual in its size and function as an advanced aircraft testing ground, lawmakers have said.

"These two linchpin bases (Nellis and Fallon) have direct access to over 22,000 square miles of airspace, and with their realistic bombing ranges, they are an integral part of our military readiness," Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., a former Air Force pilot, wrote in a letter to President Bush earlier this year.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said base closures could save $3.5 billion a year. As many as one-quarter of bases nationwide are not needed, department officials have said.

But base closures are always controversial because lawmakers fight to keep military jobs in their districts. Opponents of base closings say this is the wrong time to consider cuts as soldiers are activated and the economy is flagging.

The commission would recommend a list of bases to close and Congress and the president would accept or reject the entire list as a package, but not debate the usefulness of individual installations.

In other Senate action, lawmakers approved more than $31 million for construction projects at Nellis, including $19 million to buy 220 acres adjacent to a runway, and $12.6 million to construct a war games control center, according to Reid's office. Squads at the center will train on surveillance and reconnaissance missions in simulated combat.