RICHMOND (AP) -- Two members of Virginia's congressional delegation are criticizing the Department of Defense after a briefing on the planned closing of Hampton Roads' Joint Forces Command.
U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Jim Webb and Congressman J. Randy Forbes said Wednesday's briefing did not produce any new information on the reasons behind Defense Secretary Robert Gates' Aug. 9 announcement.
Warner said the Pentagon is either unable or unwilling to produce documentation supporting the closing.
Forbes said the military refused to provide a cost-savings analyses.
"Unfortunately, the information provided by Department of Defense officials today was nothing more than the same talking points that were provided to us a month ago," Forbes said. "Not only has the DoD refused to provide the actual legal opinion concluding that a JFCOM closure does not trigger BRAC action, but they failed to answer repeated requests from Congress for the research and cost-savings analyses related to the JFCOM decision. In fact, the only new piece of information that the DoD provided to our staff today is the fact that the JFCOM closure is a 'philosophical decision' made by the Secretary of Defense, having nothing to do with monetary savings."
Webb spokesman Will Jenkins said, "Senator Webb’s consistent concern has been that the Secretary of Defense demonstrate the process by which he arrived at the JFCOM recommendation. A decision of this magnitude should have a clear process that everyone can understand. We have not seen that yet."
The command, located in Norfolk and Suffolk, trains troops from all services to work together for specific missions. An estimated 6,000 military and civilian personnel work at the command or are under contract.
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