Military Base Closure: A Reference Handbook

(Hardback)

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Description

Between 1988 and 1995, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission closed down 97 bases and realigned over 350 other bases. A hot button topic in the military field, base-closings is an important issue that affects not only soldiers, but ordinary citizens as well. Due to their massive economic significance for local and regional communities, military bases impact thousands of people, and thus encompass various political interests between local, state, and national levels. This reference work investigates the politics and key political figures involved in base-closing decisions, and considers various reasons why bases have been and continue to be closed down. An overview of the U.S. military base infrastructure as well as primary documents is included to help students understand the BRAC Commission process between 1988-2005. The book also analyzes the closure of overseas bases outside of the BRAC process. Ideal for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, this comprehensive handbook is the only complete reference guide to military base closings. Between 1988 and 1995, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission closed down 97 bases and realigned over 350 other bases. A hot button topic in the military field, base-closings is an important issue that affects not only soldiers, but ordinary citizens as well. Due to their massive economic significance for local and regional communities, military bases impact thousands of people, and thus encompass various political interests between local, state, and national levels. This reference work investigates the politics and key political figures involved in base-closing decisions, and considers various reasons why bases have been and continue to be closed down. An overview of the U.S. military base infrastructure as well as primary documents are included to help students understand the BRAC Commission process between 1988-2005. Ideal for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, this comprehensive handbook is the only complete reference guide to military base closings.

Reviews

US military base closure is governed by a highly regularized process called base realignment and closure (BRAC). In this volume, Sorenson details that process and analyzes the impact of politics on how it is implemented and its effects. He examines the varying reasons for base closures, pre-BRAC processes of closure, and the 2005 BRAC process. He judges the 2005 BRAC to have fallen far short of its goals, partly through the political activities of domestic base defenders, although individual base conversions were largely successful. * Reference & Research Book News *
Between 1988 and 1995 the Base Realignment and Closure Commission closed nearly a hundred bases ands realigned over three hundred others, affecting not only soldiers but the communities which housed these bases. Military Base Closure is for both military collections and any community affected by a closure -- it's the only complete reference to these closings and considers the politics and rationale behind base closures, profiling those affected by the process and those which remain. * Midwest Book Review - California Bookwatch *

Author Bio

David S. Sorenson has taught national security and military affairs for over 25 years at Denison University, the Mershon Center at Ohio State University, and at the U.S. Air War College. He is the author of Shutting Down the Cold War: The Politics of Military Base Closure (1998).