Colorado’s big guns have closed ranks around the Denver Defense Finance and Accounting Service center as a base-closing panel begins deciding today where its ax will fall.
The center, with more than 1,200 jobs, was thought to be safe until a unanimous vote last month by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended that it go under a microscope and be considered for closing.
Denver DFAS is all that’s left of the former Lowry Air Force Base. The unit oversees pay for 2.2 million military members and 295,000 Department of Defense civilians employees. The commission vote conflicts with a Pentagon recommendation that the $150 million center stay open and other finance and accounting activities be consolidated in Denver and two other sites.
It’s startling to see that a facility with such an exemplary record for skill and efficiency can suddenly be fighting for its life. Of course, the center is hardly alone.
Colorado’s political establishment is fighting to save the facility. Gov. Bill Owens, Sens. Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar, and Denver City Council President Rosemary Rodriguez recently appeared before the commission to plead the case.
Rep. Diana DeGette, whose district includes the center, noted in a statement that Denver has a “skilled workforce, ability to expand existing facilities and strong community support for our military,” and that the Pentagon gave Denver DFAS its top ranking in terms of military value. She also noted that the Air Reserve Personnel Center already will be moved from the Buckley Annex to Texas.
Salazar said the 11th-hour scrutiny on DFAS may result from a feeling that other basing decisions will benefit the state – Fort Carson is expected to gain 12,000 to 20,000 soldiers.
But Colorado lost thousands of military jobs when Lowry and Fitzsimons Army Medical Center closed in the 1990s. DFAS is a top-performing facility and a closure isn’t justified.
