Davis to lead task force

Gov. Joe Kernan announced the creation of a new task force last week that will evaluate the efficiency of Indiana's military bases. Lt. Gov. Kathy Davis will spearhead the committee's initiatives, working closely with the Southern Indiana Business Alliance, as well as personnel at state bases. \nAccording to an executive order Kernan filed Feb. 20, the task force will primarily address the issues of improving existing infrastructure and engaging state universities, as well as the private sector for research projects. Kernan met with Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy H.T. Johnson and Acting Secretary of the Army Les Brownlee Feb. 23 to discuss the latest round of military base closings sweeping the country and maintained the importance of Indiana's bases to both the local economy and national security issues. \n"While in Washington, I wanted to take the opportunity to once again present Indiana's concerns and interests when it comes to realignment and closure," Kernan said in the order. "Indiana's facilities -- all of our active, reserve, and National Guard bases -- are extremely important to Indiana, but also to the nation's defense and homeland security efforts."\nJeff Viohl, the governor's federal liaison, said Kernan also discussed plans to build I-69 that would increase Crane's capacity to move shipments to and from the base. \n"The two conversations should help assure them of the state's commitment to working with both the Navy and Army in support of their missions at Crane," Viohl said. \nThe Bush administration remains a staunch supporter of extensive military base closings across the board. In the president's budget for fiscal years 2002-03, the Department of Defense is said to "waste money on infrastructure it does not need." \nThe U.S. Department of Defense stated savings from military base closures across the country totaled $14 billion in 2001 and $5.6 billion in 2002 and 2003. And according to Pentagon estimates, the 200-plus bases still running are operating at 23 percent above capacity. Deputy of Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz stated during his confirmation hearing "we have more base structure than our force structure needs."\nYet closing facilities also translates into the loss of jobs, often in rural pockets of the state largely dependent on the base as a solid, economic base. Throughout the 1990s alone, base closing resulted in a 41 percent change in personnel in Indiana alone -- 5 percent of the total U.S. loss, according to a 2002 study by the Northeast-Midwest Institute.\nIndiana is currently home to six major bases, including Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center, located about 30 miles southwest of Bloomington. Crane is one of the largest military facilities in the world, employing in excess of 6,000 personnel, and generated more than $241 million in wages, as well as $22.2 million in tax revenues to state and local funds. Closing a base such as Crane could be potentially devastating to the communities surrounding the facility, and Davis says the task force will center its energies on "making the case" for Crane to federal lawmakers. \nDavis, whose background as an MIT-educated mechanical engineer led her to work, coincidentally, on submarine acoustics, visited the facility in late January. In February, business operations and corporate planning officials at the base also met with Davis to discuss Crane's role in Indiana's Peak Performance Project. \nYet federal initiatives are already underway to privatize many technical and engineering tasks performed at bases like Crane, according to an impact study conducted in part by IU's Institute for Development Strategies, and two more rounds of Base Realignment and Closure are likely to follow over the next few years.\nIndiana State Reps. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, and Dave Crooks, D-Washington, D.C., both represent areas of southern Indiana largely dependent on Crane for economic stimulation and recognize the threat the federal government's Base Realignment and Closure program could potentially pose to the Indiana economy. They introduced legislation in the House Ways and Means Committee delegating a larger role to the Martin County base in economic development efforts. \nSenate Bill 272 would provide additional tax incentives to businesses opening close to or within military bases. It also offers an exemption on paying sales tax for utility costs incurred at businesses built in high-tech parks or industrial areas near Crane. \n"Military facilities like Crane have proven easier to keep open if it can be demonstrated that the closure of the facility would have a real impact on the economic future of the area in which they are located," Welch said in a statement. "Senate Bill 272 will let us use the services and expertise provided through Crane as an incentive to encourage industries that can provide critical support to locate around the center."\nJoel Elliott, press liaison for Kernan, said Crane's value to the state "cannot be overestimated."\n"Crane is an important part of the nation's defense structure," Elliott said. "It provides support to all branches of the armed services and is perpetually working to better equip our fighting men and women ... Crane is the heart and soul of a number of communities in southwestern Indiana. It directly employs about 4,000 people and pumps over $1 million a day into the state's economy."\nOther Indiana military bases include Camp Atterbury Maneuver Training Center in Bartholomew and Johnson counties, Terre Haute Air National Guard Wing, Fort Wayne Air National Guard Wing, Grissom Air Reserve Base in Miami county and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in Indianapolis.