Last week, I had the opportunity to speak at the Casco Bay Navy League monthly meeting and dinner in my current home state of Maine. Dustin and I stayed 15 miles down the road at the Navy Lodge on Naval Air Station Brunswick. NAS Brunswick was selected in 2005 by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission for shutting down in 2011. That's still two years away, but already the base is beginning to feel like an empty shell.Which is ironic, given that some of its buildings, especially the lodging, look almost new. At the same time as I was moving with the Navy from Florida to Maine, P-3 squadrons that made their home at NAS Brunswick since the 1950s, are taking the opposite route and have already transfered to their new location in Jacksonville, Fla.

NAS Brunswick's closure was the topic of much conversation at the Navy League dinner. Understandably, many people in Brunswick and its surrounding communities are not happy to say goodbye to the Navy in their backyard.

The BRAC Commission uses eight criteria for deciding which bases will be closed, consolidated or saved. The first four considerations pertain to the site's value to the military. These include the cost of operating the base, its impact (or lack there of) on readiness, condition of the land and facilities, and the ability to support training operations. The last four criteria deal mostly with the cities surrounding the base: Can their infrastructure continue to support personnel and missions? Will the cost of closing the base outweigh the savings? What, if any, impact will there be on the surrounding environment? And how will the base closure affect the local economy? 

However, what's missing in these eight criteria is how the departure of a base will affect the surrounding area's culture, volunteer force, education, and perception of the military as a whole. 

Some people believe that military families are rigid and sheltered. Ironically, military families are usually world travelers who have lived in a variety of socio-economic areas and have been exposed to many different cultures, ideas and politics. It has been my experience that although,  military personnel are usually devoted to their own personal beliefs, they're exceptionally tolerant of opposing views. They carry with them bits and pieces of every culture in which they've lived. (My own son, after living in the South and now the North, is known for occasionally saying, "That's wicked cool, y'all.") It's no coincidence that military commissaries are stocked with the best array of ethnic foods. Military families acquire tastes in Japan, the Middle East, England and everywhere in between, and then expect those foods to be available to them on a regular basis, shattering what may be some people's meat-and-potatoes view of servicemembers. And as these families travel the globe, making their homes in different places for two to three years at a time, they often bring the larger world to the communities around them. As far as I can tell, BRAC doesn't take this into consideration. 

Military personnel also are a dependable component of the local community's volunteer force. Known for their community service projects in schools, on the roads, in local organizations, and at city parades, fairs and other events, military men and women devote an exceptional amount of time to the cities in which they live. Although BRAC considers the amount of paid jobs lost in its decision, I wonder if they realize how many volunteer positions go vacant when the military ships out. 

The last two points -- local education and perceptions of the military -- go together. It's a standing tradition for servicemembers to volunteer at local schools, either to promote drug free messages, tutor students, or help with physical fitness activities. With their clean-cut appearance mixed with the excitement and intrigue of their profession, these men and women are an invaluable asset to local schools. Children look up to them. They listen to them. And perhaps what is most "invisible" of all is the fact that in the process, these servicemembers expose children to the option of the U.S. military. For some students in less privileged areas, the military could be their best bet for getting a college education. And many of them won't consider it unless they've met a military person who sets the example.

In 2011, NAS Brunswick will close, and with its departure there will be virtually no major military presence in the northeast. It's sad for the military and sad for the area, which will no longer benefit from the culture, opportunities and volunteerism that men and women in uniform bring to a community.