A Dose Of BRAC Reality

Sometimes hearing all the hyperbole about the flood of jobs coming our way when the government consolidates operations at Fort Meade can be a bit much. But even we were surprised to read in the Flier this candid summation from a county official about the expected benefits from the Base Realignment and Closure process:

Groundbreaking is occurring this month on several new buildings at Fort Meade, and the first wave of jobs is expected in 2010, said Kent Menser, executive director of the county’s BRAC office. While there will be thousands of Defense Department jobs moving to the area through BRAC, expected growth at the National Security Agency, located at Fort Meade, and among federal contractors is also factored into the equation.

Because the process is spread out over several years, local residents will not notice any immediate impact.

“It’s not a tsunami, but phased growth,” Menser said.