1、For context and background, see: CRS Report 97-305, Military Base Closures: A Brief1Historical Review Since 1988, by George Siehl.Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS Web97-674 FUpdated July 2, 1998Military Base Closures: Time for Anot
2、her Round?David E. LockwoodSpecialist in U.S. Foreign Policy and National DefenseForeign Affairs and National Defense DivisionOn May 19, 1997, Secretary of Defense William Cohen released a long awaitedreport, the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). In the report, a major review of militarystrategy and
3、 capabilities, he called for two additional rounds of military base closures, onein 1999 and the second in 2001. He explained that, in spite of four previous rounds ofclosing bases (1988, 1991, 1993, and 1995), the downsizing of DODs infrastructure hadfallen behind the downsizing of its force struct
4、ure units and personnel. He pointed outthat: Since the first base closure round, force structure has come down by 33% andwill have declined by a total of 36% when we finish the reductions under theQDR. During the same period, we will have reduced domestic infrastructure by21%. We must shed more weig