GunnerMike
10-20-04, 10:45 AM
Base merger idea floated
By CHUCK CRUMBO
Staff Writer
The next round of base closings could set off a military culture war in South Carolina, pitting the hooah of the Army against the hoorah of the Marine Corps.
That’s because one base-closing idea being floated in Washington calls for the historic Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island to move to the Army’s largest training base, at Columbia’s Fort Jackson.
“The idea was offered by a senior (Defense Department) official as an example of what could be done,” said Loren Thompson, who follows military issues for the Lexington Institute, a Washington think tank.
The idea is not popular with S.C. officials and military boosters. It also could cost the Lowcountry economy more than $250 million in lost jobs and contracts.
However, moving the Marine facility from Parris Island — where recruits cheer “hoorah” — to Fort Jackson — where orders are acknowledged by “hooah” — might work, some say. Both train recruits, and they are in the same state, about 150 miles apart, the Defense official told Thompson.
The idea also falls in line with the military’s focus, under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on “jointness.”
“Jointness is sort of a mantra, requiring the different branches of the military to operate as a single team,” Thompson said.
‘A BIT OFF THE WALL’
Another round of military base closings — called BRAC — is scheduled in 2005. The goal is to allow the Defense Department to cut costs while making the military more efficient and effective.
Plans call for closing a quarter of the nation’s 425 bases, saving $7 billion a year.
However, moving the Marines to Columbia hinges on whether there is enough room at Fort Jackson to provide a “discrete” facility for the Marines at a reasonable cost, Thompson said.
Any move would have to be recommended by the federal base-closing commission, which will not submit its proposals until next year.
The Marines occupy about 8,000 acres — half of which is salt marsh — on Parris Island in Beaufort County. Fort Jackson covers 52,000 rolling acres of pines and oaks in eastern Richland County.
Any move also would have to save the Pentagon money, Thompson said. Money could be saved by using the same food service, base hospital, police and fire services for both branches.
But the military would have to spend millions on barracks for recruits, office buildings, housing for enlisted personnel and officers, and training facilities for Marines at Fort Jackson.
“They don’t want to book a lot of unplanned costs,” Thompson said. “BRAC is a process for saving money to pay for future military equipment, weapons and troops.”
The idea of moving the Marine base to Fort Jackson caught S.C. officials by surprise.
“I have not heard of anything along those lines,” said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the 49-year-old Republican from Seneca who once said he would be drafted into the National Basketball Association before the Pentagon closed Parris Island. “I’ve seen no report or study that shows moving Parris Island enhances Marine training.”
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Jim Gardner, chairman of Gov. Mark Sanford’s BRAC advisory committee, chuckled. “You hear rumors like that all of the time, but I haven’t heard that one. I just don’t see that happening.”
“I’d say that’s a bit off the wall,” said retired Marine Gen. George Crist, who has helped champion Beaufort’s efforts to spare Parris Island and the separate Marine Corps Air Station from BRAC’s ax.
Neither the Defense Department nor Army would confirm a Parris Island-Fort Jackson merger is being considered.
“The bottom line is that we’re looking at everything, but I can’t get into specifics,” said Glenn Flood, a Defense Department spokesman. “All options are out there.”
‘FIGHT THE INFIDELS’
Parris Island graduates about 19,000 recruits from boot camp each year. It trains all female Marine recruits and all male recruits from states east of the Mississippi River.
Fort Jackson’s recruits enter support jobs in the Army, including cooks, mechanics and computer technicians. They come from across the country and its territories.
Parris Island and Fort Jackson have been training bases since World War I. Both have played crucial roles in shaping the history, culture and mystique of their respective services and South Carolina.
“Unfortunately, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld doesn’t include nostalgia and tradition as reasons for not closing a base,” said John Payne, a retired Marine colonel and chairman of Beaufort’s Military Enhancement Committee.
At 13 weeks, Marine boot camp is the longest and considered the most rigorous in the armed services.
Sometimes Marine drill instructors use Parris Island’s remote location — a palmetto-lined causeway is the base’s only link to the mainland — to prod recruits to stick it out.
“Quitting is not an option,” Gunnery Sgt. Juan Miles will tell a recruit who is questioning his decision to join the Corps. “The quickest way off this island is to graduate from boot camp.”
Despite the difficult training, heat, humidity and aggravation from mosquitoes, many Marines eventually develop a special fondness for Parris Island.
“I’ll bet you won’t find a single Marine or drill instructor who says it’s a good idea” to close Parris Island, said Columbia resident John Hopkins, who enlisted in the Marines in 1953 and retired 24 years later as a major.
“If they try to close Parris Island, I’ll put on my old uniform, grab my sword and stand at the bridge to fight the infidels myself.”
Hopkins also finds it hard to accept that Marines might train at the same base with the Army. “It’s like mixing oil and water, and it always will be that way.”
Nonetheless, there is a Marine unit based at Fort Jackson, a Reserve tank company.
REDEVELOP OR MOTHBALL?
Losing the recruit depot would be a heavy blow to the Beaufort economy.
A Beaufort Chamber of Commerce study found the base pumps about $252 million a year into the Lowcountry economy and accounts for 640 civilian jobs.
Fort Jackson, by comparison, employs 3,900 civilians. Its payroll alone tops $500 million a year. A state-sponsored study said the base’s economic impact in the Midlands totals $2.3 billion a year.
However, the sting to Beaufort from the loss of Parris Island could be minimized if the federal government agreed to turn over the scenic, 8,000-acre island for redevelopment. Coastal land suitable for development is scarce.
But there is no guarantee the government would sell the land like it did when Myrtle Beach Air Force Base closed in 1991.
“It’s more likely that the government will mothball the bases and not turn them over for development because of the environmental cleanup costs,” said Libby Barnes, Beaufort chamber president. “A mothballed base produces no revenue for anybody, anywhere.”
Payne, who is leading his community’s effort to keep the Beaufort bases open, added that if the military closed Parris Island, it would be wasting money spent on new buildings there.
The depot soon will open a $7.41 million all-weather training facility. It also recently added a $3 million training facility.
Payne also does not believe there is enough room or facilities at Fort Jackson to accommodate a Marine training base.
“At Fort Jackson, the Army — because of budget constraints — has postponed a lot of infrastructure maintenance and needs,” Payne said. “We’re in pretty good shape here. There doesn’t seem to be a whole bunch of savings by combining the two.”
Fort Jackson expects to train 9,000 more recruits next year as the Army grows to fight the war on terrorism, a move that will put more of a premium of Fort Jackson’s space.
Instead of bringing the Marines to Fort Jackson, Graham said a better idea would be to open the Columbia base’s advanced training schools to all branches of the military.
Fort Jackson is home to the Soldier Support Institute, which includes the adjutant general school that trains Army lawyers, plus schools for postal and finance clerks. The base also is host to the Army Chaplain School.
The military already uses a single school to train members of all the armed services in some support jobs, Graham said.
“Why not consolidate these schools?” he asked. “That would free up dollars for everyone.”
Reach Crumbo at (803) 771-8503 or ccrumbo@thestate.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2004 The State and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
By CHUCK CRUMBO
Staff Writer
The next round of base closings could set off a military culture war in South Carolina, pitting the hooah of the Army against the hoorah of the Marine Corps.
That’s because one base-closing idea being floated in Washington calls for the historic Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island to move to the Army’s largest training base, at Columbia’s Fort Jackson.
“The idea was offered by a senior (Defense Department) official as an example of what could be done,” said Loren Thompson, who follows military issues for the Lexington Institute, a Washington think tank.
The idea is not popular with S.C. officials and military boosters. It also could cost the Lowcountry economy more than $250 million in lost jobs and contracts.
However, moving the Marine facility from Parris Island — where recruits cheer “hoorah” — to Fort Jackson — where orders are acknowledged by “hooah” — might work, some say. Both train recruits, and they are in the same state, about 150 miles apart, the Defense official told Thompson.
The idea also falls in line with the military’s focus, under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on “jointness.”
“Jointness is sort of a mantra, requiring the different branches of the military to operate as a single team,” Thompson said.
‘A BIT OFF THE WALL’
Another round of military base closings — called BRAC — is scheduled in 2005. The goal is to allow the Defense Department to cut costs while making the military more efficient and effective.
Plans call for closing a quarter of the nation’s 425 bases, saving $7 billion a year.
However, moving the Marines to Columbia hinges on whether there is enough room at Fort Jackson to provide a “discrete” facility for the Marines at a reasonable cost, Thompson said.
Any move would have to be recommended by the federal base-closing commission, which will not submit its proposals until next year.
The Marines occupy about 8,000 acres — half of which is salt marsh — on Parris Island in Beaufort County. Fort Jackson covers 52,000 rolling acres of pines and oaks in eastern Richland County.
Any move also would have to save the Pentagon money, Thompson said. Money could be saved by using the same food service, base hospital, police and fire services for both branches.
But the military would have to spend millions on barracks for recruits, office buildings, housing for enlisted personnel and officers, and training facilities for Marines at Fort Jackson.
“They don’t want to book a lot of unplanned costs,” Thompson said. “BRAC is a process for saving money to pay for future military equipment, weapons and troops.”
The idea of moving the Marine base to Fort Jackson caught S.C. officials by surprise.
“I have not heard of anything along those lines,” said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the 49-year-old Republican from Seneca who once said he would be drafted into the National Basketball Association before the Pentagon closed Parris Island. “I’ve seen no report or study that shows moving Parris Island enhances Marine training.”
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Jim Gardner, chairman of Gov. Mark Sanford’s BRAC advisory committee, chuckled. “You hear rumors like that all of the time, but I haven’t heard that one. I just don’t see that happening.”
“I’d say that’s a bit off the wall,” said retired Marine Gen. George Crist, who has helped champion Beaufort’s efforts to spare Parris Island and the separate Marine Corps Air Station from BRAC’s ax.
Neither the Defense Department nor Army would confirm a Parris Island-Fort Jackson merger is being considered.
“The bottom line is that we’re looking at everything, but I can’t get into specifics,” said Glenn Flood, a Defense Department spokesman. “All options are out there.”
‘FIGHT THE INFIDELS’
Parris Island graduates about 19,000 recruits from boot camp each year. It trains all female Marine recruits and all male recruits from states east of the Mississippi River.
Fort Jackson’s recruits enter support jobs in the Army, including cooks, mechanics and computer technicians. They come from across the country and its territories.
Parris Island and Fort Jackson have been training bases since World War I. Both have played crucial roles in shaping the history, culture and mystique of their respective services and South Carolina.
“Unfortunately, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld doesn’t include nostalgia and tradition as reasons for not closing a base,” said John Payne, a retired Marine colonel and chairman of Beaufort’s Military Enhancement Committee.
At 13 weeks, Marine boot camp is the longest and considered the most rigorous in the armed services.
Sometimes Marine drill instructors use Parris Island’s remote location — a palmetto-lined causeway is the base’s only link to the mainland — to prod recruits to stick it out.
“Quitting is not an option,” Gunnery Sgt. Juan Miles will tell a recruit who is questioning his decision to join the Corps. “The quickest way off this island is to graduate from boot camp.”
Despite the difficult training, heat, humidity and aggravation from mosquitoes, many Marines eventually develop a special fondness for Parris Island.
“I’ll bet you won’t find a single Marine or drill instructor who says it’s a good idea” to close Parris Island, said Columbia resident John Hopkins, who enlisted in the Marines in 1953 and retired 24 years later as a major.
“If they try to close Parris Island, I’ll put on my old uniform, grab my sword and stand at the bridge to fight the infidels myself.”
Hopkins also finds it hard to accept that Marines might train at the same base with the Army. “It’s like mixing oil and water, and it always will be that way.”
Nonetheless, there is a Marine unit based at Fort Jackson, a Reserve tank company.
REDEVELOP OR MOTHBALL?
Losing the recruit depot would be a heavy blow to the Beaufort economy.
A Beaufort Chamber of Commerce study found the base pumps about $252 million a year into the Lowcountry economy and accounts for 640 civilian jobs.
Fort Jackson, by comparison, employs 3,900 civilians. Its payroll alone tops $500 million a year. A state-sponsored study said the base’s economic impact in the Midlands totals $2.3 billion a year.
However, the sting to Beaufort from the loss of Parris Island could be minimized if the federal government agreed to turn over the scenic, 8,000-acre island for redevelopment. Coastal land suitable for development is scarce.
But there is no guarantee the government would sell the land like it did when Myrtle Beach Air Force Base closed in 1991.
“It’s more likely that the government will mothball the bases and not turn them over for development because of the environmental cleanup costs,” said Libby Barnes, Beaufort chamber president. “A mothballed base produces no revenue for anybody, anywhere.”
Payne, who is leading his community’s effort to keep the Beaufort bases open, added that if the military closed Parris Island, it would be wasting money spent on new buildings there.
The depot soon will open a $7.41 million all-weather training facility. It also recently added a $3 million training facility.
Payne also does not believe there is enough room or facilities at Fort Jackson to accommodate a Marine training base.
“At Fort Jackson, the Army — because of budget constraints — has postponed a lot of infrastructure maintenance and needs,” Payne said. “We’re in pretty good shape here. There doesn’t seem to be a whole bunch of savings by combining the two.”
Fort Jackson expects to train 9,000 more recruits next year as the Army grows to fight the war on terrorism, a move that will put more of a premium of Fort Jackson’s space.
Instead of bringing the Marines to Fort Jackson, Graham said a better idea would be to open the Columbia base’s advanced training schools to all branches of the military.
Fort Jackson is home to the Soldier Support Institute, which includes the adjutant general school that trains Army lawyers, plus schools for postal and finance clerks. The base also is host to the Army Chaplain School.
The military already uses a single school to train members of all the armed services in some support jobs, Graham said.
“Why not consolidate these schools?” he asked. “That would free up dollars for everyone.”
Reach Crumbo at (803) 771-8503 or ccrumbo@thestate.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2004 The State and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.