BRAC update
Some skeptics scoffed in 2005 when the decisions were announced to move Forces Command and Army Reserve Command headquarters from Altanta to Fort Bragg and 7th Special Forces Group from Fort Bragg to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., by 2011.
Never happen, some people said.
How would Forces Command, a four-star headquarters that needs constant access to the Pentagon, operate out of a town without even direct flights to Washington, D.C? Reserve Command, a three-star headquarters, oversees units in every nook and cranny of America, too.
The 7th Group has roots in Fort Bragg and the surrounding community that go back to the early 1960s, and who had ever heard of a Special Forces group on an Air Force base? In unguarded moments, U.S. Army Special Operations Command leaders publicly admitted there was much desire to stay put.
Well, during the past year, the military has "crossed the Rubicon" on both moves. Ground was broken in December 2008 for the Forces Command headquarters on Fort Bragg and in March for the 7th Group complex, which will be built in a remote location on Eglin.
Now it's a race against the clock to meet the deadline of Sept. 15, 2011, for the moves to be done.
Steel is going up for the Forces Command headquarters on Fort Bragg. Forces Command officials have said they will be moving in waves to the Fort Bragg area.
One big concern is whether Forces Command will be able to do its job uninterrupted of supplying combat-ready Army units to commanders throughout the world. Gen. Charles Campbell, the Forces Command commander, jokingly told a Fort Bragg audience that Osama bin Laden has ignored requests to call "time out" in the "war on terror" so that the headquarters can move in peace.
The 2005 BRAC law also calls for the Army to take over the real estate of Pope Air Force Base. However, the Air Force will mostly continue what it is doing. High-level decisions remain about who will pay the bills.