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BRAC 2005 Chronology - BRAC 2005 While the 2005 BRAC round doesn't formally begin until the Secretary of Defense releases a roster of proposed base closings and realignments on May 16, 2005, preliminary planning has actually been underway for nearly a year, according to the Defense Department. On Jan. 6, 2004, DoD formally began its internal preparations for the base closing process with the announcement that all military installation commanders had been directed to provide detailed information on their facilities to the Pentagon as part of its information-gathering procedure by which bases will be examined for possible closing. A Pentagon news release stated: "All installations will participate in these [data] calls. While none of the questions or data associated with the questions will be released to the public prior to the department's recommendations being forwarded to the independent Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, which will be named by March 2005, all questions and data will be publicly available once the Commission receives them." Last Feb. 5, 2004, the Pentagon published in The Federal Register the formal criteria (available at http://www.dod.gov/brac/docs/criteria_final_fedreg.pdf ) that the Defense Department plans to use in its decision-making process for selecting military bases for closure and realignment. On March 23, 2004, the DoD submitted to Congress a formal force structure inventory report (available at http://www.dod.gov/brac/docs/04_0_body032403.pdf) covering the years 2005-2025 in which the DoD must assess near- and long-term threats to the national security, the probable personnel "end-strength" levels and number of major military force units needed to meet those threats (such as Army and Marine divisions, aircraft carriers, other major combatant warships and air wings), and anticipated funding levels to meet those requirements. The next major milestones in the BRAC process all occur in 2005, including: February 2005: Revisions to force-structure plan and infrastructure inventory. Any changes to the March 23, 2004 report must be included in DoD's FY 2006 budget justifications to Congress. March 15, 2005: Deadline for the President to submit nominations for the 2005 BRAC panel to the Senate for confirmation. May 16, 2005: Deadline for the Secretary of Defense to release a list of military installations DoD is recommending for closure or realignment. At this juncture, DoD also plans to release the detailed "data calls" from each military installation used to determine what bases should be retained and those slated for closure. July 1, 2005: Deadline for Comptroller General transmission to the congressional defense committees of a report containing a detailed analysis of the Secretary of Defense's recommendations. July-August 2005 (approx.): BRAC Commission hearings on bases to be closed or realigned. September 8, 2005: Deadline for BRAC Commission to transmit its report to the President with conclusions and recommendations on military base closures. September 23, 2005: Deadline for President's transmission to Congress his report specifying his approval or disapproval of BRAC recommendations. If the President approves the BRAC recommendations, they become binding 45 "legislative" days unless Congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval. October 20, 2005: If the President on Sept. 23 disapproves the BRAC Commission recommendations, this is the deadline for the panel to submit revised recommendations to the President. November 7, 2005: Deadline for President to approve or disapprove the BRAC Commission's revised findings. Again, a 45 "legislative" day countdown begins in which the report conclusions will become binding unless Congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval. April 15, 2006: BRAC Commission terminates.
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