An independent panel votes to keep open South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base. The base closing commission voted to reject a Pentagon plan to close the facility.
Sen. John Thune (R-SD) argued during the 2004 campaign that he would make a better case for sparing the base than then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.
Below is a list of major votes by the base closure commission, as of 9:50 a.m. Aug. 26.
CLOSE (as Pentagon recommended):
California
-Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach Concord Detachment
-Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant
-Onizuka Air Force Station
Georgia
-Fort McPherson
-Fort Gillem
-Naval Air Station Atlanta
Indiana
-Newport Chemical Depot (closure was conditioned upon completion of treaty obligations)
Kansas
-Kansas Army Ammunition Plant
Michigan
-Selfridge Army Activity
Mississippi
-Mississippi Army Ammunition Plant
-Naval Station Pascagoula
New Jersey
-Fort Monmouth (closure was conditioned on an assurance that research under way in connection with the war on terrorism won't be disrupted)
Oregon
-Umatilla Chemical Depot (closure was conditioned upon completion of treaty obligations)
Texas
-Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant
-Naval Station Ingleside
-Brooks City-Base
Utah
-Deseret Chemical Depot (closure was conditioned upon completion of treaty obligations and a study to see if the depot can be converted for another use)
Virginia
-Fort Monroe
KEEP OPEN (either wholly or partially, rather than close as the Pentagon wanted):
California
-Naval Support Activity, Corona
Connecticut
-Submarine Base New London
Louisiana
-Naval Support Activity, New Orleans
Maine
-Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Nevada
-Hawthorne Army Depot
South Dakota
-Ellsworth Air Force Base
Texas
-Red River Army Depot
CLOSE (rather than downsize as Pentagon wanted):
Maine
-Naval Air Station Brunswick
KEEP OPEN (rather than drastically downsize as the Pentagon had wanted):
Alaska
-Eielson Air Force Base.
KEEP OPEN (with conditions):
The commission also decided to keep open two bases it had considered closing, but it added conditions in both cases. The Pentagon wanted all along to keep them open. Those bases are:
California
-Broadway Complex San Diego
Virginia
-Oceana Naval Air Station
Sources: The Associated Press
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
