Southwest Georgia military bases continue BRAC struggle - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Southwest Georgia military bases continue BRAC struggle

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July 1, 2005

Albany- A letter sent out today from the BRAC commission to the Secretary of Defense questions the original BRAC list released May 13th. One of those questions includes some discussion about Moody Air Force Base. It questions the realignment of the Master Jet Base in Virginia. It asks if the assets that will be assigned to Moody Air Force base, should have been assigned to Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico?

The good news is that there is no mention of MCLB in the list of 12 bases in question. Southwest Georgia Alliance for Progress had a chance to sing the praises of MCLB this time before several BRAC Commissioners and staff.

"It was very important for us to have a face to face meeting with the BRAC commissioners and tell them that we can do the work that the Secretary of Defense has recommended but we can do even more," said Tim Martin, CEO Albany Dougherty Chamber of Commerce.

That's why members were encouraged when questioned about how much workforce the base is currently using.

"They asked us how many, if we were working all three shifts, or if we were working one shift and the answer is we're working about a shift in a half," said Martin.

"I was a former maintenance center commander and I can tell you that it can do a lot more," said Col.. James Martin, Liaison to the Southwest Georgia Alliance for Progress.

There's still some decisions to be made before the final list makes its way to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

"They have to make some decisions about where to send a lot of things and so this is additional information for them to keep in their database so they can make decisions in the future about where to use resources," said Taylor.

The Southwest Regional Alliance for progress hopes that means the possibility of more workforce added to MCLB's current workload.

Members of the Southwest Georgia Alliance for Progress said arguments made by Athens and the three bases on the list were strong, and they're cautiously optimistic that they may be able to reverse the decision of the BRAC Commission.

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