Concord Journal

September 8, 2005

Selectmen send letter to BRAC Commission

By Maureen O'Connell/ Staff Writer

Following the lead of the Lexington Board of Selectmen, the Concord board met Tuesday afternoon to draft a letter to the chairman of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission asking it to spare the 230 jobs it plans to take from Hanscom Air Force Base.

On Aug. 25, the BRAC Commission dashed the hopes of Bedford, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln and other friends of the Air Force Base when it recommended that Hanscom would not expand, as it has been announced in May, but continue to operate minus two operations. With the Sensors Directorate and Space Vehicles Directorate moving to Ohio and New Mexico, respectively, under BRAC's August recommendation, approximately 200 jobs are expected to move from Hanscom.

The letter, signed by Selectman Chairman Anne Shapiro, expresses gratitude to BRAC for recognizing Hanscom's importance to both the Defense Department and the region, but asks it to reconsider its recommendation to remove the two units from Massachusetts.

"The deadline for decision-making is fast approaching, but we believe strongly that the analysis of this proposal should be reviewed immediately, before the final recommendations are made," the letter states. "This decision should be reversed."

It continues, "The proposed move would result in an enormous loss of valuable technological know-how for the Air Force. (Department of Defense) operations at Hanscom benefit from the constant, daily collaboration between personnel at the base and the Boston scientific and academic community.

"Many of the civilian researchers working on (Department of Defense) projects are unlikely to relocate to these other bases, and it is quite likely that their experience and expertise will be lost," Shapiro wrote.

Lincoln selectmen did not consider a letter at its meeting Tuesday night, but Bedford's board said such a letter was not something it would be undertaking.

Calling the letter a "bad move," Bedford Selectman Sheldon Moll said the letter was discussed at the last selectmen's meeting, but was not signed.

"This is not something that I think is appropriate at this time. We are basically blessed in having the base remain...," he said. Moll said he felt sympathy for the 200 people that would be asked to move or retire, but noted he was happier the bulk of jobs at the base would remain unaffected by any BRAC decisions.

"We should be thankful for what we have," he said.

Concord board members disagree.

"The loss of (these) operations from Hanscom (Air Force Base) will not only be a significant economic loss for our region, but it will also represent a very real loss to our nation's defense capability," wrote Shapiro.

Staff Writer Paul Furfari contributed to this report.

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