Three New Jersey Military Bases Slated For Closure?
Spook 86 over at In From the Cold has an advanced list of military base closings that includes three from New Jersey - Ft Monmouth, Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Air Engineering Center in Lakehurst.
The Spook says: “the list that appears on Friday may contain a few surprises, but I still expect most of the bases on the January list will make the final "cut" for closure.”
Update: The final BRAC list for New Jersey:
Fort Monmouth
Inspector/Instructor Center, West Trenton
Kilmer U.S. Army Reserve Center, Edison
The Spook says: “the list that appears on Friday may contain a few surprises, but I still expect most of the bases on the January list will make the final "cut" for closure.”
Update: The final BRAC list for New Jersey:
Fort Monmouth
Inspector/Instructor Center, West Trenton
Kilmer U.S. Army Reserve Center, Edison
Posted by Enlighten-NewJersey @ 2:34 PM
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1 Comments:
Closing Ft. Monmouth, the Army's Center of Excellence for Command, Control, Communications,Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaisance, would be the biggest mistake Mr. Rumsfeld has make yet. And yes, in my personal view, he has made many. Haven't enough lives been lost at the hand of this maniacal menace? When Rummy sets his mind to something, he gets what he wants, without respect to the costs - in most cases, the lives of the soldiers that fight every day to protect our freedom. Historically, he has irreverently rejected the advice of his most qualified Army advisors. Just ask GEN Shinseki and Mr. White. When they publically spoke their opinions, that were not what Rummy wanted the public to hear, they were ousted. Why have advisors when you know everything? Underestimating the amout of boots on the ground necessary at the onset of this war, by a mere 100,000 or so has contributed to the loss of more than 1,600 of our soldiers lives to date. And what was the exit strategy? Oh, that's right - there was none...we're still there. Mothers are still losing their sons and daughters on a daily basis and we're going to be there for a very long time...
Does a worse fate await the future of our soldiers in theater now that Rummy has directed the BRAC Commission to recommend Ft. Monmouth for closure?
Can anyone stop Rummy from making another uninformed decision? Ft. Monmouth's scientists and engineers answer the soldiers' call every day - developing incredible new technologies to combat the latest threats and deploying these new systems to the field in record time.
Couldn't this be done in Aberdeen, MD? Not a chance! Ft. Monmouth is a community of highly skilled, experienced scientists and engineers that cannot be duplicated in any other region of the United States. We are not talking about a few prodigies right out of college, although we have been blessed with a few. We are talking about the brightest minds in in R&D and System Acquisition who have lived, and breathed and created these evolving technolgies through the expanse of their entire careers. We are talking about people who have devoted their lives to making systems that save the lives of our Warfighters. These people have missed countless family birthdays, anniversaries, father/daughter dances, etc. due to being on travel for their job. These people gladly sacrifice these and many other personal obligations because they know that in doing so, their efforts will help save lives of the Warfighter. They understand that it is the Warfighter, who on a daily basis is willing to make the supreme sacrifice for us, and for our country.
The Ft. Monmouth community has made it clear that one sacrifice they are not willing to make is to move to Aberdeen, MD.
Would someone please let Mr. Rumsfeld know that the amount of money they report they will save over a period of 20 years by closing Ft. Monmouth is not worth the amount of lives that will be lost for many years to come if we can no longer develop these systems at Ft. Monmouth and have to start from scratch in Aberdeen? Just ask a parent who has lost a child if there is any amount of money worth their child's life. When it comes right down to it, that is what we are talking about. Saving money (and the true amount is up for debate) vs. saving lives. To me, that's a no brainer. You can make and lose money in an instant but you can never replace a life.
On the digital battlefield, war is won based on network centric warfare, information dominance and situational awareness (where you and your buddies are and where the enemies are). These capabilities were concieved, developed, acquired and fielded by the minds of Ft. Monmouth. Who is going to be left leading the transformation of the Army's C4ISR systems if Ft. Monmouth is closed?
Our motivation is that we want to continue live in our homes, keep our children in their own schools, care for our aging parents and continue to work to save the lives of our Warfighters, bring them back, and bring them back whole.
American family values should not be confused or replaced by the desire of DoD to save money.
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