Rumsfeld signals fewer base closings than first believed
PENTAGON With an expected announcement on base closings now about a week away, there's word the cuts may not be as bad as first thought. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld originally suggested the military would be cutting its base capacity by 20 to 25 percent.
Now Rumsfeld has told newspaper editorial writers in a conference call that the closures will probably amount to less than half that.
This is the first round of base closures in more than a decade and communities across the country have been nervously awaiting word about whether their base is on the list.
Rumsfeld suggested several weeks ago that the base cuts might not be as deep as first thought because of the decision to bring some 70-thousand soldiers home from Cold War-era bases in Europe.
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