The Army has completed a Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment (SPEA) that analyzes, among other things, the economic impact that proposed military reductions will have on the economies surrounding the military bases under consideration for realignment. The study was conducted in response to the Army’s 2020 Force Structure Realignment Plan, which proposes reducing the size of the Army from 562,000 to 490,000.
Now, the Department of Defense (DoD) is calling for further reductions.
The 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) as released by the DoD suggests reducing the size of the Army to 420,000. In accordance with the DOD’s policy recommendations, the following study considers 30 locations, all of which are projected to experience significant reductions in military personnel. Out of the 30 locations listed in the report, 3 are in Virginia: Fort Lee of Chesterfield (assessed to lose 3,600), Fort Belvoir of Northern Virginia (assessed to 4,600), and Langley-Eustis of Hampton Roads (assessed to lose 4,200).
The Air Force recently announced that it plans to cut 742 positions at Langley Air Force Base as a result of the DoD directive to eliminate 3,500 positions over the next five years. This severe reduction at Langley-Eustis will result in Virginia being hit harder than any other state. Further, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said in a statement the Air Force will pursue reductions aggressively over the next year, instead of spreading the reductions over five years as allowed by the DoD.
The Richmond Times-Distpatch recently reported that Fort Lee could lose more than half of its permanently assigned soldiers and Army civilians by 2020 under a worst-case scenario outlined in a recent Army review. In the report, prepared by the U.S. Army Environmental Command, up to 2,792 soldiers with an average salary of $46,760 and 746 Army civilians with average salaries of $78,963 could see their jobs at Fort Lee disappear. The report also estimates that 455 contract jobs and 921 other jobs would be lost as a result of lower demand in the economy. These reductions would cripple local businesses, who depend on the military base’s soldiers and their families as their main customers.
Defense industry jobs are likewise taking cuts. A report by the National Association of Manufacturers states that in 2014, California is expected to lose the most military-related jobs (148,400) followed by Virginia (114,900) and then Texas (109,000). Many of the jobs are in heavy manufacturing, such as aerospace and ship building, and search and navigational services, but general business and other services will also be affected.
