Jack Spencer, Defense and National Security Senior policy Analyst and BRAC expert with the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based, political think tank, says that part of the machinery built into BRAC 2005 specifically insulates politicians against the decisions that come out of it, and from the ability to influence the process.
"BRAC was created to protect congressmen from base closures," Spencer said, "while (at the same time) the process allows for congressional and community input."
According to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, BRAC 2005 will differ from previous BRAC rounds by mandating that "military value" be the primary consideration.
In addition, regardless of whether a state has lost bases to BRAC closures in the past (as has Utah), this time around all bases are on the table.
Even with the built-in protections, however, many believe that politics will play a part.
"I would hope," Spencer said, "that he (Bishop) would not influence the process. I hope he would support what is best in the nation's defense."
"As soon as they create a system where bases are protected, it perverts the whole process."
Another Heritage scholar, Dani Doane, Director of Congressional Relations for the U.S. House of Representatives, said that she believes politics will play a part, especially in an election year.
It has happened in the past.
In the election year of 1995, the BRAC Commission announced it was closing bases in voter-rich Texas and California. Republicans decried President Clinton's resultant "privatization in place" plan as a way to bypass the utility of BRAC in order to preserve political prowess.
"Privatization in place" kept employees working at the bases, but working for private contractors rather than the federal government. (One year later, the privatized Texas and California bases closed.)
Bishop hopes the same does not happen in 2004, another election year. "We all want to avoid the political shenanigans," Bishop said, "but there are some politics involved. Not like Clinton. His privatization in place was a sham. That's the worst extreme we could get into."
Doane, Bishop, and Scott Parker, Bishop's press secretary, all agree that it is likely not the case that any one person could save the base.
But Bishop does find usefulness in the ability of Congress and communities to give input. He doesn't equate this with wrongfully influencing the BRAC process.
"Not all those who make these decisions [BRAC] have been to HAFB," he said. "We want to make sure they don't miss anything."
BRAC guidelines support Bishop's belief. In fact, for a brief time in early 2004, the federal government accepted public input. But the reality of politics on the Hill is that politicians have constituents, and military bases tend to keep many of these constituents employed.
Sometimes this means that the most powerful politicians can influence the process, regardless of protections that are built in against it.
"It drives me nuts," Doane said. "I doubt (Senator Trent) Lott is going to lose much. He's a good example. We keep building helicopters we don't need."
Sway in Washington, D.C. comes with seniority, something that former Rep. Jim Hansen, Bishop's predecessor, had plenty of. Hansen served Utah's 1st District for 22 years. By contrast, Bishop is serving his first term in office.
Though Dan Jones from the Hinkley Institute of Politics holds Bishop in the highest regard, he wondered aloud about Bishop's clout.
"Seniority counts for so much," Jones said.
Bishop agrees, and says it simply means he has to work harder, and be more creative. He pointed to Utah's contribution of $2 million to make Dugway's Michael Army Airfield runway usable as an emergency Air Force landing site as example of creativity.
"It was really revolutionary to fix the runway, Bishop said. "People are talking about it back here."
The addition bolsters HAFB's military value, in that it makes Utah's unique Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) -- one of HAFB's most valuable assets by BRAC requirements -- more "military friendly." Should a fighter have to make a risky landing with a 500-pound bomb hanging precariously from its wing, it could do so in the distant desert rather than over Syracuse, Layton and Clearfield.
One of the house resolutions Bishop has introduced came about to protect the UTTR, called HR2909, "The Utah Test and Training Range Act."
Along with these efforts, Bishop stressed that the fight to save the base is more than his own. Along with the State of Utah, and the Utah Defense Alliance, Bishop said that he "tips his hat" to Senators Hatch and Bennett and Rep. Hansen before him -- especially Hansen.
Hansen served on the coveted House Armed Services Committee (HASC), and according to Bishop, he was well-liked in his service. Bishop also obtained an HASC seat.
"He [Hansen] was good friends with the chairperson," Bishop said, "Because of that, I think the chairperson likes me."
Within the HASC, Bishop secured a seat on the Subcommittee on Readiness, the group that deals with military training, readiness, and logistics. In addition, it deals with the base closure process.
"Considering his tenure," Doane said of Bishop's efforts, "he's being as helpful as he can be. He has kept his nose to the grindstone." But the potential for closure looms, and it weighs heavily on Bishop, consuming a considerable amount of his time, according to Parker.
"No, I don't feel good about it," Bishop said, meaning that it is not a pleasant issue. "It's like the 800-pound gorilla. It's always on my mind. I look at this as a most pressing issue, and I take it personally."
All parties acknowledge that the worst could happen.
Spencer maintained that a community would be wrong to blame a politician for a base closure. "But I would blame congressmen for not planning for the future," he said.
The worst outcome, according to Bishop, actually wouldn't be closing HAFB.
"The worst case," Bishop said, "is that the base stays open, but takes all the jobs away. BRAC stands for Base Realignment And Closure. We could be realigned into just as bad a situation."
In such a case, the real estate would be locked up, rather than providing ground for community improvement.
"It's not a sprint," Bishop said, "It's more like a cross country run. The ace in the hole are the people of Utah. I'm proud of 'em."
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