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36-482: METC is the result of the 2005 BRAC legislation that required the bulk of enlisted technical medical training in the Army , Air Force , and Navy to be collocated to Fort Sam Houston, Texas with the potential of transitioning to a tri-service education and training effort. Consolidation is expected to result in government savings and makes the campus the largest enlisted military medical education and training facility in

72-412: A pun on Black Friday ). After an extensive series of public hearings, analysis of DoD-supplied supporting data, and solicitation of comments from the public, the list of recommendations was revised by the 9-member Defense Base Closure and Realignments Commission in two days of public markups and votes on individual recommendations (the proceedings were broadcast by C-SPAN and are available for review on

108-913: A combined savings of $ 12 billion annually. The Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 , passed after the 1947 reorganization of the National Military Establishment , reduced the number of U.S. military bases, forts, posts, and stations. The subsequent 1950s buildup for the Cold War (e.g., during the Korean War ) resulted in large numbers of new installations, such as the Permanent System radar stations and Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) control centers . By 1959, plans for even larger numbers of Cold War installations were canceled (e.g., DoD's June 19, 1959, Continental Air Defense Program reduced

144-437: A dining facility, fitness center, five new medical instructional facilities (MIFs), a biomedical equipment technician field training site, a Navy and Air Force shared command building, student activity center, academic support facility, and a METC headquarters building. Two other dorms were built nearby for Army students, with one housing technical school students. The dorm rooms themselves were individually constructed offsite at

180-484: A plant in Belton, Texas and shipped. Each of the five, 4-story dormitories cost approximately $ 140 million to complete. The dormitories consist of 600 apartment-styled dorms on three upper floors while the bottom floor are classrooms and administrative spaces. Due to the unique circumstances of a military dormitory over traditional college dorms (such as noise from aircraft, armored vehicles, and artillery, as well as

216-665: Is estimated to bring an additional $ 15 billion per year after 2011. Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure ( BRAC ) was a process by a United States federal government commission to increase the efficiency of the United States Department of Defense by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the end of the Cold War . Over 350 installations have been closed in five BRAC rounds: 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, and 2005. These five BRAC rounds constitute

252-573: The AN/FPS-6 (in program MX-1353 - "Long range S-band height finder") and AN/MPS-10 (MX-1354 - "Mobile long range search radar set"). Texas Towers were approved on 11 January 1954, and despite 11 Permanent System radar stations closing in 1957 ( N-28 Pinetree station and the M-87 , M-101 , M-104 , M-105 , M-106 , M-109 , M-122 , M-128 , M-131 , & SM-137 stations), at "the end of 1957, ADC operated 182 radar stations…32 had been added during

288-602: The Distant Early Warning Line ). ADC's Interim Program and its First Augmentation were planned "until the Supremacy plan network could be approved and constructed", and an $ 85,500,000 March 1949 Congressional bill funded both the Interim Program "for 61 basic radars and 10 control centers to be deployed in 26 months, with an additional ten radars and one control station for Alaska" and

324-639: The House Armed Services Committee rejected calls by the Pentagon for base closures outside of a 2015 round by a 44 to 18 vote. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had called for two rounds of base closures while at the same time arguing that the alternative of the sequester would be a "meat-ax" approach to cuts which would "hollow out" military forces. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 specifically prohibits authorization of future BRAC rounds. In May 2014, it

360-455: The Navy considered cutting 34 military installations. The 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission included: The 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission included: The 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission included: The Pentagon released its proposed list for the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission on May 13, 2005 (a date given the moniker "BRAC Friday,"

396-452: The "Radar Fence Plan ( code named Project SUPREMACY)" was planned for completion by 1953 with 411 radar stations and 18 control centers. The Radar Fence was rejected by ADC since "no provision was made in it for the Alaska to Greenland net with flanks guarded by aircraft and radar picket ships [required] for 3 to 6 hours of warning time" (the Alaska to Greenland net was eventually built as

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432-464: The 609th AC&W Sq became the " 614th Radar Squadron (SAGE) " on 1 September 1959. Permanent System stations not included in the SAGE network were phased out beginning with 9 in 1957; then the first closure for SAGE of a 1951 station (Roslyn P-3) was in 1958. The radar stations were redesignated with NORAD identification numbers Z-2, etc. on 31 July 1963. The SAGE centers were subsequently replaced with

468-540: The Army's policies on the amount of floor space allocated per soldier), contractors were forced to find a unique way to deal with the sound. The traditional method of party walls would not work because of the already limited floor space. A new soundproof drywall was used instead to give students as much living space as possible. METC entered into its initial operating capability June 30, 2010 and reached full operating capability on September 15, 2011. Its initial training course

504-539: The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission. The BRAC is an independent nine-member panel appointed by the President. This panel evaluated the list by taking testimony from interested parties and visiting affected bases. The BRAC Commission had the opportunity to add bases to the list and did so in a July 19, 2005, hearing. The Commission met its deadline of September 2005 to provide the evaluated list to

540-789: The Permanent System" was completed in May 1952, USAF AC&W squadrons were established (renamed Radar Squadrons in the mid-1950s), and the Ground Observation Corps was expanded in 1952 ( Operation Skywatch ) with over 750,000 volunteers at over 16 thousand posts (98 per post in shifts) and 75 centers. Manual Air Defense Control Center s (ADCC, MCC) of the Permanent System were USAF command posts for command, control, and coordination by Air Defense Command , including early Cold War ground-controlled interception of enemy aircraft. Each MCC networked radar stations of

576-681: The Permanent System): Montauk L-10/LP-45/P-45 , Fort Custis L-15/LP-56 , Palermo L-13/LP-54/P-54 , Sault Sainte Marie L-17/LP-20, and Highlands L-12/LP-9/P-9 . From March to November 1951, the "LP" designation was also used for 23 new stations for the Permanent System that were outfitted, instead of with radars developed for the Permanent System, with older radars such as the January 1945 General Electric AN/CPS-5 radar, 1948 Western Electric AN/TPS-1B Radar , and Bendix AN/TPS-1C radar. The LP designator

612-512: The President, who approved the list with the condition that it could only be approved or disapproved in its entirety. On November 7, 2005, the approved list was then given to Congress, who had the opportunity to disapprove the entire list within 45 days by enacting a resolution of disapproval. This did not happen, and the BRAC Commission's recommendations became final. The 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission included: In 1990,

648-550: The augmentation's additional 15 radars ("essentially Phase II of Supremacy"). The resulting Lashup Radar Network was completed in April 1950 and was operational in June 1950. On 13 February 1950, HQ USAF had "advanced the completion date from July 1, 1951, to December 31, 1950, for the most essential radar stations. The USAF reallocated $ 50 million for the "permanent Modified Plan" (modified from Supremacy) to "start construction on

684-697: The automated environment ( cf. Mather AFB which relayed data through Mill Valley AFS ). On "June 26, 1958,…the New York sector became operational" with the SAGE Direction Center at McGuire AFB (DC-01), and in 1959, ADC's Air Divisions and the AC&;W Squadrons were redesignated, e.g., the 27th Air Division was renamed between 1 February 1959, and 1 April 1966, as the Los Angeles Air Defense Sector (LAADS); and

720-508: The end of the most recent BRAC commission report, its former chairman Anthony Principi wrote, "Now is the time to do what's right for our men and women in uniform. Spending dollars on infrastructure that does not serve their needs is inexcusable." The following is a chronological timeline of authorizations for U.S. Congressional legislation related to U.S. defense installation realignments and military base closures. Permanent System radar stations The Permanent System ("P system")

756-630: The high Priority Permanent System of radars in February 1950 with the first 24 radar sites to be constructed by the end of 1950". Early June 1950 exercises "in the 58th Air Division [tbd Lashup sites] indicated insufficient low-altitude coverage," and the Secretary of the Air Force requested a 2nd stage of 28 stations on 11 July 1950 (Secretary of Defense approval was on 21 July.) By November 1950, Ground Observation Corps filter centers (7 in

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792-511: The last half of the year as low-altitude, unmanned gap-filler radars. The total consisted of 47 gap-filler stations, 75 Permanent System radars, 39 semimobile radars, 19 Pinetree stations,…1 Lashup[-era radar and a] single Texas Tower ". Groundbreaking for the SAGE System facilities began in 1957, Ground Observer Corps operations ended in 1958, and most Permanent System radar stations were modified to have an AN/FST-2 computer to provide

828-399: The network's website). The Commission submitted its revised list to the President on September 8, 2005. The President approved the list and notified Congress on September 15. The House of Representatives took up a joint resolution to disapprove the recommendations on October 26, but the resolution failed to pass. The recommendations were thereby enacted. The Secretary of Defense must implement

864-457: The number of Super Combat Center underground nuclear bunkers to 7). In 1958, U.S. Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) began to replace Strategic Air Command bombers. From 1960 to 1964, the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations closed 574 U.S. military bases around the world, particularly after President John F. Kennedy was briefed after his inauguration that the missile gap

900-615: The recommendations no later than September 15, 2011. Major facilities slated for closure included: Major facilities slated for realignment include: Twenty-six bases were realigned into 12 joint bases , with each joint base's installation support being led by the Army , the Air Force, or the Navy. An example is Joint Base Lewis–McChord , Washington, combining Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base . The 2005 Commission recommended that Congress authorize another BRAC round in 2015 and every eight years thereafter. On May 10, 2012,

936-743: The sector, plotted radar tracks & visual observations, and forwarded information to ADC command center at Mitchel Field , Ent Air Force Base in 1951, and the new 1954 Ent blockhouse subsequently used by the 1954 CONAD and the 1957 NORAD . MCCs were generally located at or near a radar station, e.g., Andrews Air Force Base MCC in Maryland (at/near radar station SM-171), Dobbins AFB GA (M-87), Geiger Field WA (SM-172), Kirtland AFB NM (P-41), Norton AFB CA (P-84), Oklahoma City AFS OK (P-52), Roslyn AFS NY (P-3), Snelling AFS MN (P-36), Willow Run AFS MI (P-23), and Wright-Patterson AFB OH (SM-170). Some MCCs were replaced by Direction Centers of

972-490: The student breakdown includes approximately 51 percent Army, 31 percent Navy and 18 percent Air Force. The longest program offered is cytology , which is the study of cells, at 52 weeks; and the shortest, at four weeks, is patient administration . Consolidated basic and specialty enlisted training from five separate service medical learning centers have moved to San Antonio , Texas. The Medical Education and Training Campus has already brought $ 621 million to San Antonio and

1008-656: The subsequent SAGE Radar Network , e.g., when McGuire DC-01 was established, the Roslyn Air Force Station MCC became the "Combat Alert Center (Manual)". MCCs continued at several sites where DCs were planned but never built for sectors at Albuquerque , Fort Knox , Kansas City , Miami , Raleigh , San Antonio , Shreveport , and St Louis . Five radar stations of the Lashup Radar Network were redesignated as Permanent System stations (3 later upgraded with newer radars developed for

1044-553: The west, 19 in the east) were being installed. By 10 November a separate Air Defense Command headquarters was approved, the Federal Civil Defense Administration was created in December 1950, and command centers communicated radar track information to the national ADC center that had moved from Mitchell Field to Ent Air Force Base on 8 January 1951. The "original construction program for

1080-442: The world. METC's footprint covers more than one million square feet on Fort Sam Houston and cost more than $ 1 billion to build and equip. Eleven new facilities have been built, including three 1,200-student dormitories, and five existing buildings were renovated/transitioned to accommodate METC students. Construction began July 21, 2008. Three dormitories were built to accommodate Air Force and Navy students. Other facilities include

1116-545: Was Radiology Technician. Their courses were phased in throughout the rest of the year and into 2011. The METC campus graduates around 16,500 students each year, with an average daily student load of approximately 5,500. METC officials will also employ an operating staff and faculty of 1,200. On August 10, 2014, METC realigned under the Education and Training Directorate of the newly established Defense Health Agency and entered into initial operational capability. By service,

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1152-826: Was a 1950s radar network ("P radar net") used for the CONUS "manual air defense system" and which had a USAF aircraft control and warning (AC&W) organization of personnel and military installations with radars to allow Air Defense Command ground-controlled interception of Cold War bombers attacking the United States. During World War II the United States Army organized a network of "Army Radar Stations", Aircraft Warning Corps information centers, Ground Observer Corps filter centers, and Fighter Control Centers (which were "inactivated...in April 1944") to provide air defence. A similar post-war system

1188-400: Was also used for 1 station opened with AN/FPS-3 and AN/FPS-5 radars in 1950 ( Tierra Amarilla LP-8 ). More than 15 of the new LP stations were subsequently upgraded and designated P-xx stations, and some of the squadrons at LP stations that closed moved to new P stations. New LP sites not previously designated L sites: Permanent System radars were developed in various programs such as

1224-541: Was attempted to fund another round of BRAC, although funding was not approved in a vote in May of that year. In March 2015, the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment addressed the possibility of a future BRAC, indicating that the DOD, Defense Secretary Ash Carter was requesting authority to conduct another BRAC. In September 2015, at the tenth anniversary of

1260-522: Was not a concern. The Defense Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1990 provided "the basic framework for the transfer and disposal of military installations closed during the base realignment and closure (BRAC) process". The process was created in 1988 to reduce pork barrel politics with members of Congress that arise when facilities face activity reductions. The most recent process began May 13, 2005, when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld forwarded his recommendations for realignments and closures to

1296-480: Was planned. The Distant Early Warning Line was "first conceived—and rejected—in 1946." General Stratemeyer forwarded an air defense plan to General Spaatz in November 1946. In the spring and summer of 1947, three Air Defense Command Aircraft Control and Warning (AC&W) plans went unfunded. e.g., the 8 April 1947, "air defense plan (long term)". With only 5 "Air Warning Station" radars operating in 1948,

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