John Conger — acting assistant defense secretary for energy, installations and environment — has said the Defense Department is willing to look into revising its Base Realignment and Closure process to obtain the authorization it seeks from Congress, Federal News Radio reported Wednesday.“There were a sufficient number of criticisms about the last BRAC round that Congress will want to have different authorizing legislation if they’re going to give us BRAC authority again,” Conger told radio show host Jared Serbu.
Serbu reports DoD noted in the agency’s last two defense budget requests that it would consider “alternative options” to reduce excess military infrastructure if Congress does not approve a new round of base closings.
The law allows the department to close bases one by one, provided that Congress is warned about the activity, according to the station.
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) has proposed the creation of a segmented commission to examine the U.S. military’s excess installations and help the department save money.
DoD has saved approximately $12 billion a year through the previous five rounds of base realignment and closure, the report added.
