BRAC: A Scary Word in Groton

Even though Naval Submarine Base New London was saved the last time, when you say the word “BRAC” in Groton, people get nervous.

It stands for the Base Closure And Realignment Commission, the group that reviews military bases and recommends which ones should close.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week announced that substantial cuts would be made to defense spending and another round of BRAC may be coming.

“It’s a little terrifying, maybe more so for us because we’re outside of the base and we do so much with the submarine base,” said Thomas Vivirito, who owns Fleet Motor Company, LLC, across from the Groton base. About 60 percent of his service business and 40 percent of his car sales come from the Navy.

The Big Three

The sub base is one of Groton’s three largest employers, with 7,500 military personnel, 1,400 civilian employees and more than 1,000 civilian contractors. The base is also tied to Electric Boat, another one of Groton’s big three. and is not .

Vivirito said he’d almost compare a base review to having a serious illness that might come back.

“The doctor tells you you’ve got to have a check up every five years, and you don’t know if it’s going to happen again,” he said.

Groton’s base was recommended for closure in 2005, but the community, congressional delegation and state banded together, fought, and prevented the shut down.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, Sen. Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, released a joint statement last week opposing another round of BRAC, calling the proposal  “dead on arrival.”

S.O.S

Thomas Vandesteene, who works at the weapons compound and volunteered at Charles Barnum Elementary Friday, was new to Groton during the BRAC in 2005. He said he remembers signs everywhere with the slogan SOS, for “Save Our Sub base.”

“The economy in this local area is driven by the sailors,” Vandesteene said. At any given time, the submarine school has 4,000 students, he said.

“I don’t see it ever closing," he added. “But that’s the worry- that if it did, it would be devastating.”

Military Children

It would also affect the public schools. Superintendent Paul Kadri said about 20 percent of Groton's 5,000 public school students have parents in the military.

At Charles Barnum, 83 percent of the children in kindergarten through fifth grade have parents in active duty in the military. At Mary Morrisson, the figure is 87 percent. Pleasant Valley Elementary has fewer military children, but still a significant number, Kadri said.

"It would have an impact on enrollment, without question," he said. Groton receives a little less than $5 million in military aid to educate those children.

If something were to happen to the sub base, Kadri said it would also be an emotional loss.

"Groton and the sub base are synonymous," he said. "It's almost like losing a part of your identity, if the sub base were to go."

Investments

Steve Woodruff, who owns Woody’s Service next to the base, said he believes recent investments will help the base if a review moves forward. Eighty percent of his business depends on the base, he said. But he’s not that nervous yet.

“We’ve been tested once already and we passed,” he said.

Gov. Dannel Malloy, who attended a groundbreaking on an addition to Nimitz Hall in May, said the project was the fourth investment the state has made at the base since 2005. The investments total $12 million, he said.

Vivirito said he still doesn’t feel protected.

“We all know how the government works. They can put billions of dollars into a facility, and decide (that) if it’s not politically advantageous to them, they just walk away.”

Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/GrotonPatch and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/GrotonPatch.