Home » Archives » "Fort Lewis, McChord head toward merger"

Fort Lewis, McChord head toward merger

May-14-2005 » Filed Under: General Military

Link to Full Article
By Michael Gilbert, News Tribune

They’ve operated side-by-side but independently for the better part of 67 years, but there’s likely a wedding in the future for Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base.

The two big military bases would merge as “Joint Base Lewis-McChord,” one of seven new multiservice installations in Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s base closure and realignment proposal, released Friday. [...]

Friday’s report shed no new light on whether local bases will acquire any of the 70,000 service members who are being brought home from Germany and Korea. Fort Lewis is thought to be in line to lose a Stryker brigade to Germany, but gain a brigade from the returning 1st Armor Division.

Likewise, there was no news about the prospective move of I Corps from Fort Lewis to Japan.

But now the post has a new job: getting ready to hitch up a little closer with its next-door neighbor.

Schatz, the McChord boss, seemed to bristle at the suggestion that such a partnership might be difficult.

“We work together every day,” he said.

Related:
Fort Lewis to take over management of McChord under 'joint basing' initiative - The Olympian


Advertisements