Former Bay Cityan Gen. Bruce MacDonald on State Military Base Task Force
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Former Bay Cityan Bruce MacDonald, retired auto firm executive and Army major general, with associates Bud Liebler, left, and Jason Vines.
New $9.7 million medical center at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, Macomb County.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Maj. Gen. Bruce MacDonald, native Bay Cityan, Central High and University of Michigan graduate, is a member of the Governor's Task Force whose activities are described below. Gen. MacDonald is a former General Motors public relations executive who is a partner in Liebler!Macdonald, a communications strategies consulting firm in Birmingham, MI.)
Michigan hasn't been invaded by a foreign power since 1812 when the British took Fort Michilimackinac and Detroit and captured 500 Americans at Monroe, many of whom were slaughtered by Indians.
Michigan also doesn't have a strong history of maintaining forts and bases. The abandonment of Fort Saginaw in 1823 after being open only a year is an ancient case in point. Wurtsmith and K.I. Sawyer air force bases that were closed in recent decades are more pertinent.
Despite their few numbers, military installations are still very important to the state for economic reasons. And, says Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, for homeland security, too.
More than 12,200 jobs are at stake as Gov. Granholm's Task Force to Protect Michigan's Military Facilities lobbied legislators in Washington, D.C. this week.
The Michigan leaders were in Washington Wednesday to support efforts of the Michigan congressional delegation to prevent the closure of Michigan military facilities and the loss of thousands of jobs.
The state lobbying effort in the nation's capital follows a meeting of the Task Force with Department of Defense (DOD) officials earlier this month about Macomb County federal facilities facing closure or realignment.
Task force members include Major General Bruce MacDonald (Ret.), a partner in Liebler MacDonald LLC communication strategists; and Joe Dolan, Michigan national representative, American Federation of Government Employees, and local representatives.
Political maneuvering may also be involved as Gov. Granholm, Sen. Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Rep. CandiceMiller exchange tentative jabs, each trying to take the lead in staving off potential federal military base cuts to protect the Michigan economy.
Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, Macomb County, could be one facility targeted for closure despite the expenditure of $160 million in upgrading at the base since the late 1990s.
As the Macomb Daily editorialized recently: "No one has ever credited the U.S. Department of Defense with thinking ahead," citing DoD's "infamous history of wasting tax dollars."
Rep. Miller is influentially positioned to come out of the fracas with a win, given her membership on the House Armed Services Committee and the Readiness Subcommittee overseeing military installations. Her Michigan 10th District includes Selfridge, where her husband, Circuit Judge Donald Miller, formerly was base commander.
Complicating the military base issue is the fact that President George W. Bush last fall urged Rep. Miller to run against Sen. Stabenow in 2006. And Mrs. Miller has also said she may consider a run against Gov. Granholm.
The sparring may set the stage for a Miller coup if Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld comes charging in to accept her suggestion that Selfridge Air National Guard Base be converted to a base for redeploying U.S. troops from overseas.
As a leader in defense reforms and economies, Sen. Carl Levin, D-MI, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, may find himself with an agonizing decision if the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process involves closing Selfridge. On the one hand there's the need to back defense facilities realignment; on the other, there's the Michigan economy at stake.
"I commend our task force members and representatives from communities affected by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process for all their hard work to ensure the continued operation of the bases in our state," Gov. Granholm said, adding: "Not only are these installations vital to our homeland security, they are vital to our economic security by employing thousands of Michigan residents."
Michigan facilities being evaluated as part of the BRAC process include: Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS)/Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center, Battle Creek; W.K. Kellogg Field/110th Fighter Wing Division Air National Guard, Battle Creek; Fort Custer Army National Guard Base, Battle Creek; Army's Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), Warren; and Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mt. Clemens.
The BRAC list of closures recommended by Sec. Rumsfeld is due out this week and will be evaluated by a BRAC Commission to be submitted to Pres. Bush in September. A final decision is slated by Nov. 7.
Gov. Granholm and task force co-chairs Brigadier General Robert Mansfield, Jr. (Ret.), former official of the Defense Logistics Agency in Battle Creek, and Robert Truxtell, former executive of General Dynamics, will meet with DOD regardingbases in Battle Creek.
The Michigan military facilities account for 7,015 direct jobs and another 5,200 military personnel housed or trained at these sites, not including related jobs in nearby communities.
To some observers, military bases are pure "pork barrel." To others, they are a vital part of the local economy.
"We will continue to do everything in our power to help Michigan's congressional delegation fight to keep Michigan bases open," said Gen. Mansfield. "We know that when bases close, communities are devastated, so we are determined to make sure that doesn't happen."
On May 16, 2005, a list of installations recommended for closure or realignment in the BRAC process will be published. After presidential review in the fall of 2005, the process must be completed and voted on by Congress no later than April 15, 2006.
BRAC 2005's expected closures will be equivalent to the total of four prior base closure rounds in the 1980s and 1990s combined, which included the closing of Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Iosco County, K.I. Sawyer Air Force base in Marquette County, and the Warren Tank Arsenal.
While in the nation's capital, Gov. Granholm met with the Michigan congressional delegation and with Department of Energy (DOE) officials to discuss the DOE's science funding and proposed locatiion of the Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA) at Michigan State University, East Lansing.###
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