Retired Brig. Gen. Paul Dordal outlined predictions in the latest BRAC (Base Closure and Realignment) report Wednesday at a Days Inn lunch arranged by the Chamber of Commerce.
Planning for the impact of more 20,000 additional military personnel and their families coming to Fort Bragg area over the next six years calls for a huge effort by our community, according to Linda Parsons, vice president of the Chamber.
"Opportunities," Dordal said. "It's all about opportunities. It is as good as you want to make it."
This report uses past residential figures to predict new arrivals and their expected impact on Fort Bragg's surrounding counties: Moore, Montgomery, Richmond, Hoke, Lee, Harnett, Sampson, Robeson, Bladen, and Cumberland.
"These numbers may not apply," he said. "If you are going to put effort into it, changes will occur."
If these new people -- locating here as a result of the Bragg buildup -- follow the previous pattern exactly, this prediction says Moore County's resident military personnel population will double in size, adding a projected 697 people, along with spouses and dependents.
"The figures DPI has will add more, based on a multiplier of one," he said. "They calculate that one job is created for each family, so that is 1,409 -- and 562 will be here this year."
These are not raw recruits. Fort Bragg is to be the new base of FORSCOM -- the U.S. Army Forces Command -- under command of a four-star general.
Previously, a three-star general was the highest ranking soldier at Fort Bragg, at the 18th Airborne Corps operational headquarters.
"This is a big deal," Dordal said. "FORSCOM equips the whole U.S. Army. The economic impact on eastern Carolina is estimated at $5.5 to over $6.5 billion."
U.S. Army Forces Command trains, mobilizes, deploys, sustains, transforms, and reconstitutes conventional forces, providing relevant and ready land power to Combatant Commanders worldwide.
"FORSCOM is the Army's '911' -- ready to go when called," he said. "Fort Bragg is the premier power projection point for the United States in the world. The mission at Fort Bragg isn't going away."
Linking With Communities
Bases grow, or sometimes go, depending to a degree on how they are crowded by surrounding development.
More than one has had to be closed when residential neighborhoods and commercial sections blocked room for training. The next BRAC study is scheduled for 2015.
Dordal will be working with the BRAC Regional Task Force, or RTF. Within a few weeks he hopes to have its Web site at www.bracrtf.com up and running.
"There are some regulatory hurdles to get over," he said. "Once we can work out just how military can link to municipal and civilian Web sites, we hope to have a site where anybody bound here can find out what they need to know."
Local communities in the county will, he hopes, be able to post information about quality of life, available housing, and other factors online through the Task Force site. More than that, Dordal wants to set up kiosks with such information readily available at other places about the country, where personnel who will end up here are now living.
"We will set up 'Welcome to North Carolina' kiosks, have a schools fair, a marketing fair," he said. "Come, set up a booth. Tell them about Moore County. The word is out that you have a great quality of life."
The average age of people in FORSCOM is 54, he said. They are seasoned professionals, and 80 percent of them are coming here.
"Typical salaries are in the mid '80s," he said. "They will want to know about schools, transportation, workforce. They are seasoned officers with families. Some will move here, and then retire here."
There are other workforce issues. Some people who now work at Bragg or at Pope Air Force Base face tough choices. With Pope moving from Air Force to Army, some jobs will disappear even as others arrive.
"Camp Mackall is expanding," he said. "They may need additional workers."
Questions Remain
One of the big problems planners face in managing workforce requirements, he said, is that while they know FORSCOM will create a lot of new jobs, they don't know where those people are, or are coming from. They don't know exactly which Army personnel are coming, either.
"We don't know where those 80 percent are," he said. "It is a worldwide (job) market. They need senior people, people with experience. Workforce issues are most critical."
Other members of the military come to Bragg temporarily, for training. Special Operations Command (USASOC) brings 15,543 students here on temporary duty.
"They need places to stay," he said. "They normally don't come to Moore County, because of the cost of gas for their buses. But now, with the numbers getting so large, they may have to change that."
Dordal thinks the total influx could be much bigger than anybody can know for sure right now.
"I would consider those numbers a minimum," he said. "Special Forces is growing by 15 percent or more. We know there is not enough office space around Ft. Bragg now. Here is an opportunity for a business park, could be for shared use."
How they will get here is another knotty riddle to solve: a lot more people will be coming to see FORSCOM for one reason or another.
"They need 60,000 flights," he said. "Getting your Southern Pines airport in operation was a great idea."
John Chappell can be reached at 783-5841 or by e-mail at jchappell@thepilot.com.
