Where to Build Bases? Why Not At Home?

So asks Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas in an op-ed from Politico that's been republished elsewhere.

For the future security posture of U.S. military forces and for the fiscal health of our nation, our military construction agenda should be guided by these words: Build in America.

At the end of the Cold War, the U.S. military determined that our armed forces would be best trained and equipped for service when stationed on U.S. soil. Thus, our military adopted a “force projection” strategy that allows service members to deploy from home, rather than being based primarily overseas.

The Overseas Basing Commission reaffirmed the force projection strategy in 2005. It lauded the insights and vision behind Defense Department initiatives to transform the military and re-station tens of thousands of military personnel back on U.S. soil. Congress has legislated and appropriated accordingly.

We’ve now invested more than $14 billion to build housing, stationing, training and deployment capacities at major military installations. Deployment of U.S. forces from Germany to Iraq, for example, was complicated by denials of air and ground routes through several European countries. We have proved we can best deploy from the United States — and we can do it more cost effectively

By: Brant