By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Military and civilian workers at Scott Air Force Base in the Metro East could find out this week if the facility will be on the Pentagon's next base closure list.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's recommended closures for the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission are due a week from today (Monday), though he could release them early.
Jim Pennekamp is not worried. He's heads the economic development group Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois.
"We're very optimistic about Scott Air Force Base," Pennekamp said last week. "And the reason that we are is that Scott is a very different facility than it was in 1995 when we went through this the last time."
Pennekamp says new missions and units at Scott make it too valuable of a base to close.
The BRAC commission will consider Rumsfeld's recommendations and give the President a final list of recommendations for him to either accept or reject.
Scott, the largest employer in the Metro-East, was almost shuttered during the last round of closings in 1995.
Pennekamp says a lot has changed since then-namely the construction of Mid-America airport, which shares a runway with Scott.
"The 126th Air Refueling Wing was able to move from Chicago-O'Hare International to Scott Air Force Base. In addition to that more recently, the 18th Air Force was located at Scott Air Force Base."