The BRAC Commission’s Impact on Horsham

When I joined the Naval Reserve after my time serving active duty in the United States Navy, I chose my reserve duty station at Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station Willow Grove. 

The decision was an obvious one for myself considering I was only about eighteen miles from the base and not too far from my former employer at the time. While serving in the Naval Reserve, I was still able to receive military training experience once a month and for two weeks active duty wearing the uniform and playing a supporting role for the active-duty fleet. Individuals I served with in the operational support units came from various backgrounds and enjoyed the flexibility of serving our nation, as well as receiving additional income supporting family livelihood. I was aware of the base closure before I performed my reserve duty on the base at the end of March 2011. I soon became familiar with the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, known as the acronym BRAC. 

The BRAC Commission operates as an independent commission from the United States Department of Defense to suggest cuts in defense spending. The commission also proposes realignment infrastructure to former military bases for accommodating the needs of the communities affected by base closures. The first BRAC Commission recommended realignment and cuts to defense spending in 1988, followed by further rounds in 1991, 1993, 1995, and finally 2005. 

As I read the reports and looked at the realignment suggestions, I saw an historic correlation. What do all these years have in common? We witnessed the fall of the Soviet Union ending the Cold War, along with a decrease in military strength that followed during the Bill Clinton Administration. JRB NAS Willow Grove was on the radar by this commission due to its size and lack of strategic significance to the surrounding communities in Horsham Township, Warminster Township, and Warrington Township. 

We fast-forward today and the only military footprint that remains is the Horsham Air Guard Station, which accounts for roughly a quarter of the entire base. The Air National Guard is more of a support role for unmanned aircraft used for reconnaissance missions that would support the United States Air Force mission. Now, Horsham Township officials are working with developers, investors, and the United States Navy to ensure the remaining three-quarters of land is suitable for land redevelopment. 

The Horsham Land Redevelopment Authority (HLRA) certainly has their work cut out for them based on the intent of the land becoming prime real estate for a mixed-use development and not used for industrial purposes. Robby Chakler recently wrote in Horsham Now about high levels of harmful chemicals from the firefighting agent aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) that was used as a firefighting agent on the former site for downed aircraft and other installations that caught fire over the seven decades the base was operational. The chemicals, according to the article, cause groundwater contamination. High levels are toxic and lower levels have been found in blood tests on residents who came in contact through drinking water. 

My question: why build on an abandoned site contaminated with possible firefighting agent chemicals that could harm the local population? Does anyone else see a red flag? What type of report did the Environmental Protection Agency, along with the United States Navy give before the base closure? 

My next concern is the layout of the proposed mixed-use development. Horsham Township Manager Bill Walker, along with the HLRA may in my view only see dollar signs in the land being developed for single family homes, apartments, movie theater, short par 3 golf course, office buildings, school, and a town center zoned for retail shopping. If you travel from the Willow Grove Park Mall up several miles north to the former base site, you hit so many restaurants, shops, gas stations, nearby golf courses, and residential areas. How much more does this township need?

Drive down Blair Mill Road and you see countless businesses and office complexes, retail stores off Dresher Road and apartments built like they came from the old Eastern Bloc of the Cold War. This area is already oversaturated with business, retail shops, and residential areas. Do you expect thousands of people to just show up with cash ready to buy in this market? 

The former base at JRB NAS Willow Grove will always have a place in my heart as a Navy veteran who served this great nation of ours. As we saw these recommendations of base closures or realignment with the infrastructure, what have our adversaries been doing since we had these BRAC Commissions? Communist China continues to build their military bases and naval warships at record speed and what do we do? We decided to scale back our military. 

I welcome the recruitment of young men and women wanting to serve our great nation in uniform, but the gutting of our military may impact those numbers unless we have the infrastructure set up for them. Should we be gutting of our military in favor of more real estate development?

Eric Tuwalski, Ed.D. is the Social Studies Department Chair at Archbishop John Carroll High School.