Bush acts to defend against
next round of closures and realignments

MIAMI, Fla. (March 11, 2003) -- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has appointed a 17-member advisory council to work on protecting Florida's military installations from the next round of closures or realignment scheduled for 2005.

Bush said the advisers will begin work on analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of Florida's 21 military bases and three military unified commands.

The panel will be co-chaired by Thomas Fanning, president and chief executive of Gulf Power Co. in Pensacola, and retired Air Force Gen. Duane Cassidy of Ponte Vedra.

Council members include Tampa businessman Al Austin, who is also a Republican fund-raiser with strong national party connections; Pete Carpenter, former vice chairman of CSX Corp. in Jacksonville; retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Gordon Fornell of Niceville; University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft; retired Air Force Gen. James Davis of Tampa (who also was on the eight-member base closure commission in 1995), and former astronaut Winston Scott, a professor at Florida State University.

In Florida, there are 21 military installations in 13 counties; three unified commands are also headquartered in the state. Bush is commander in chief of Florida's National Guard.

In the last four rounds of base closures and realignments - in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995 - the Pentagon chose 97 major domestic bases for closure, 55 major bases for realignment and 235 minor installations to be either closed or realigned.

Prior base closure and realignment actions resulted in Naval boot camp Orlando Naval Training Center closing in 1998, and Cecil Field Naval Air Station in Jacksonville shutting its doors a year later.

Florida's military and defense-related industries create a $30 billion industry, the third-largest economic sector behind tourism and agriculture.

The state is home to the U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, responsible for U.S. military activities in the Middle East and particularly the Persian Gulf region, and the U.S. Southern Command in Miami, which oversees U.S. military activity in Central and South America and in the Caribbean region.

Bush has said in a recent press release that more than $15 million has been spent in Florida in defense infrastructure since 1999.

Secretary of Defense Ronald Rumsfeld must submit to a Base Closure and Realignment Commission his list of recommended closings and realignments by May 16, 2005. The commission must submit its decisions to the president by Sept. 8, 2005. Congress then must approve or reject the president's list without change.