There are several hundred major U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) military installations across the nation. In 2005, DoD moved forward with a new round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). BRAC is the process that the Pentagon uses to reorganize its installation infrastructure to more efficiently and effectively support its forces, increase operational readiness, and facilitate new ways of doing business. Each round of BRAC results in the closure and/or realignment of selected military bases around the country. This is an important issue to governors because military installations are often critical to state economies generating thousand of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity and tax revenue.

Mission Growth
Mission growth is an increase in operations at a military installation. The 2005 BRAC process allowed DoD to reduce its infrastructure and cut costs by relocating certain operations to other installations. As a result, some military installations and their host communities will experience an increase in mission activity and local growth. An increase in military activity can strain a community's ability to reasonably accommodate the influx of military personnel and their families and can place excessive demands on essential community services and facilities. Along with solid information on the size and timing of the direct military changes, adequate funding to address community enhancements-such as widened roads and expanded public school facilities-is crucial for successfully managing growth.

Encroachment
Many states and military communities have taken steps in an effort to protect their bases from closure by preventing incompatible residential and commercial development patterns from encroaching on their installations. When development increases near and around military bases, land-use conflicts often arise between mission activities and local communities. Ultimately, bases could close if encroachment restricts training and operational missions.

Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)
Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is the process that the Department of Defense (DoD) uses to reorganize its installation infrastructure to more efficiently and effectively support its forces, increase operational readiness, and facilitate new ways of doing business. Each round of BRAC results in the closure and/or realignment of selected military bases around the country. This is an important issue to governors because military installations are often critical to state economies generating thousand of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity and tax

Military Installation Development: The BRAC process presents communities the opportunity to redevelop surplus property at closed or realigned military installations. However, preparing an installation for civilian use can be very costly because many communities will need to make infrastructure improvements and formulate an economic stimulus package that attracts or retains businesses in or around the installation. To achieve a successful redevelopment plan-at both the planning and implementation stages-securing financial assistance and creating diversified financing mechanisms is essential.