Region braces for new BRAC

State and local officials say they are better prepared now than they were in 2005 to fight an order from the Pentagon to close Groton’s naval submarine base.

And while the state’s congressional delegation has called a recent announcement about the possibility of a new round of base closures “dead on arrival,” preparations for a battle are nonetheless in the works.

It was a reunion of sorts Thursday for the sub base coalition group of the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region that led a successful fight against the last round of the U.S. Department of Defense Base Closure and Realignment in 2005. The group met at Fort Trumbull in New London.

“We should assume nothing is safe,” said U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, who expects a fight in Congress but is optimistic that a new BRAC round will not come to fruition.

All agree closing the base, which contributes an estimated $3 billion to the state economy, would be economically devastating to Eastern Connecticut.

Courtney said the last BRAC round actually cost the government $35 billion in exchange for savings that will not materialize until 2018.

“I believe we will jump off the Capitol dome” before voting in favor of a bill authorizing a new BRAC round, Courtney said, referring to the armed services military readiness subcommittee of which he is a member.

But mandated budget cuts and the drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan make a new BRAC round likely sometime in the near future.

Robert Ross, executive director of the state Office of Military Affairs, said “there will be a future BRAC,” but the submarine base in Groton is in a better position than it was in 2005 thanks to a $150 million investment at the base and improved synergy with submarine builders Electric Boat.

“Unlike last time, we’re not going to have to react from a dead stop,” Ross said.

Former Congressman Rob Simmons, who remembers the hard-earned victory to keep the Groton base off the list in 2005, warned of challenges. He said the state will have two freshmen senators at a time when fiscal conservatives in Congress are fighting for budget cuts.

The Groton base also has fewer submarines and is one of only three submarine bases on the East Coast, including Norfolk, Va., and King’s Bay, Ga.

Because of its size and strengths, Simmons said Kings Bay is highly unlikely to be considered for closing.

“I’m glad we’re having this meeting now. It’s not too soon,” Simmons said.