A study to examine community involvement in major U.S.military base closures and realignments from 1988 to 2001

Abstract

This study examines community involvement in major U.S. military base closures and realignments from 1988 to 2001. There were four waves of base closures during this time. They were in 1988, 1991, 1993, and 1995. Community involvement became an important criterion in the reuse decisions for the closed bases. The methods used in this study are the literature review, a questionnaire with analysis and three case studies. The literature review looks at the subject of community involvement in general and community involvement in connection with closed military bases. The questionnaire was sent to 107 closed bases with fifty one base representatives responding. The contents of the completed questionnaires were analyzed for community involvement both during the base closure phase and the reuse phase. There are three analyses based on community involvement plus a description of the involvement techniques used. The first analysis uses the Community Involvement Analysis. The results of this analysis were as follows. Community satisfaction depended upon the community elements. In the next analysis, the Representation Analysis, community satisfaction depended upon the amount of representation and time of representation. The regression analysis also showed that amount of representation and time of representation to be optimum. The third analysis, the Involvement Analysis uses the type and amount of community involvement, the amount of representation and the time for representation for the analysis. The results were that the best model was the type and amount of community involvement and amount of representation. In addition, participation methods employed by the base redevelopment agencies were described. Strategic planning was the overall method of community involvement used and multiple involvement methods were used in that framework. Finally, three bases were identified in the questionnaire as candidates for further study and discussed in the study. They were Naval Air Station Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Florida, Glenview Naval Air Station in Glenview, Illinois and Bayonne Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey. The study of these bases provided more information on the base closure process.