The shift of 5,000 military workers from various posts to Fort George G. Meade, so far, appears to have no major roadblocks or challenges.
“From my perspective, [the base realignment and closure process] is progressing forward and is getting community support,” said Col. Kenneth McCreedy, Fort Meade commander.
The same cannot be said at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, where the shift of 9,000 jobs from Fort Monmouth, is being challenged by New Jersey lawmakers.
Most of the jobs coming to Fort Meade ? about 4,000 ? are from the Defense Information System Agency (DISA), based in Arlington, Va., and tasked with compiling combat information for the federal Department of Defense.
The other jobs are media or security related and come from the Pentagon or Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
Unlike the APG situation, no military base is closing because of BRAC movements to Fort Meade.
When BRAC was first announced in the summer of 2005, DISA employees opposed the Fort Meade move. Officials claimed the shift would lead to a “brain drain” of government workers and contracts in northern Virginia.
Now the opposition is waning, officials said.
“It might have been opposed back then, but it?s nothing like New Jersey down here,” Anne Arundel County BRAC Coordinator Robert Leib said.
U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., represents the area where many DISA workers live. Unlike New Jersey lawmakers, Moran?s office said it?s focusing on the impact of BRAC to Fort Belvoir in Lorton, Va., which is expected to receive 18,000 new jobs.
“We?re seeing the number of [undecided] responses to moving … going up while the ?no? responses are going down,” said McCreedy, referring to a survey of employees.
However, officials are cautiously eyeing the APG-Fort Monmouth episode.
“BRAC actions have never been re-opened before,” Leib said. “You?re cautious because it could set a precedent. And once the door is open, a lot of people who lost because of BRAC will come in.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Anne Arundel and Fort Meade officials say the Odenton base could see about 22,000 jobs as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure program.
Military jobs to Fort Meade:
» 4,097 from the Defense Information Systems Agency
» 951 from adjudication activities
» 669 from media and publication activities (Department of Defense)
» Two from Joint Network Systems
Other jobs to Fort Meade:
» 3,049 indirect jobs
» 922 contractors
» 10,000 jobs from private developers on base property
The country?s fourth-largest Army installation now has 42,000 jobs on the base
Sources: Fort George G. Meade Web site; Anne Arundel County BRAC Office
