Editorial: Depot worth saving

Friday, Aug. 26, 2005 | 9:12 a.m.

The community of Hawthorne, a little more than 300 miles northwest of Las Vegas, got some good news Wednesday. One of its employment mainstays, the 75-year-old Hawthorne Army Depot, got a new lease on life from the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The commission voted unanimously against the recommendation by the Pentagon to close the depot and move its operations to Utah. For Hawthorne, population 3,500, the news meant the depot's 552 employees will continue to contribute mightily to its economy.

The news was good for the nation, as well. As the commission discovered, the Pentagon miscalculated in stating that the depot was expendable. The commission found that the depot's 147,000 acres are of high strategic value, and not just because of its work with ammunition. Among the depot's many other functions, it serves as a prime training area for Marines, Navy Seals and other troops heading for desert climes.

The commission also learned that closing the base, and cleaning it up afterward, would cost as much money as the Pentagon had hoped to save. The efforts of the Hawthorne community in helping to save the depot, and of the Nevada congressional delegation, served Nevada and the country well.

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