Military Bases Will Dwindle In Iraq: Hurt Employment Of Locals
By Susan Thompson on December 6, 2010, 10:24 am
Impact aid recipients say their federal money is a matter of basic fairness. Military bases and other federal installations take a huge amount of property off the tax rolls, so school districts can’t always get enough local tax revenue to pay for the extra students from military families. Impact aid is how the federal government helps pay the tab.
What They Provide
Military bases usually provide housing for military personnel, a post office and dining facilities (DFACs). They may also provide support facilities such as fast food restaurants like Burger King, or AAFES snack bar, a gas station, chapels, schools, a hospital or clinic (dental and/or health clinics), shopping and convenience retail stores such as a Base/Post exchange (BX/PX) or shoppette, beauty salon, and laundromats. Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation (FMWR) provides facilities such as fitness centers, libraries, athletic fields, basketball hoops, child development centers, automotive work shops, hobby/arts and crafts centers, bowling centers, and community activity centers.
Well Known Bases In The US
There are a handful of well known bases in the US, usually the training centers for the military. Fort Benning, for example, is where most Army infantry go through basic training. Then there are others that are less known, but cover thousands of acres of land for weapons testing and research. The military often faces criticism about the number of bases maintained, especially the number of military bases overseas. Here’s a look at the size and cost of US defense.
Iraqis Employed By US
The number of Iraqis employed by the American military has plummeted from 44,000 in January 2009, before the United States began to reduce its forces, to about 10,500 now, according to the military’s figures. The number of American-financed contractors and grant recipients fell by 22 percent just during the summer, according to a report by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
What Will Iraq Do
In Baghdad, the owners of the Zanubia transportation company said they once employed 55 drivers, engineers, electricians, security guards and other staff members to haul supplies for contractors working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the United Nations. Drivers were shot at and kidnapped, and the company’s owners received death threats. But the money rolled in. At its peak — “the golden age,” one of the owners said — Zanubia had contracts worth about $1 million a month.
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