Panel votes to cut Army command in St. Louis

The U.S. Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommends closing the Overland facility.

OVERLAND, Mo. -- After 28 years, Wanda Jenkins figures it's time to look for a new job.

Jenkins, 52, a human resources clerk, has worked at the Army Human Resources Command in suburban St. Louis for 28 years and said she will transfer to another government job "someplace" until she can retire.

"Some people are really ready to leave here," she said, as she left work to catch a bus home. "Other people are really frightened."

Already stressed workers at the Human Resources Command in Overland would learn Thursday after they'd gone home for the day that the Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted to close the facility.

The fate of the plant was under discussion early afternoon, but a decision was delayed around noon Eastern time. It wasn't until late Thursday that BRAC decided the fate of the command's 1,100 employees. It agreed to the Pentagon's plan to close the Overland facility and consolidate the work in Fort Knox, Ky.

"People who work here are settled, they're taking care of loved ones, they have houses," plant worker Melissa Manning, 40, said. "They're not able to pick up and move to Fort Knox, and a lot of people don't want to move there."

Earlier Thursday, the BRAC Commission voted to shutter Defense Finance and Accounting Service offices in St. Louis and Kansas City, where about 900 people work.

The commission voted to consolidate more than 20 DFAS offices around the country into five offices in Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis; Limestone, Maine; and Rome, N.Y.

President Bush must either approve or disapprove the list by Sept. 23. The White House must submit a BRAC commission list to Congress by Nov. 7.

Gov. Matt Blunt called the decision to close the DFAS offices and the Overland facility disappointing.

"Very few things have as great an impact on families as the loss of a job. We will work to assist these families in this time of need and continue to hope for the best with respect to our other military facilities," Blunt said.

U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., whose St. Louis district includes both the DFAS office and Army Human Resources Command, called the decision to move operations to Fort Knox, Ky., "a huge mistake and a "reckless waste" of $60 million in taxpayer money.

He said the DFAS consolidation would cost more money than it would save.

"I will strongly oppose the final BRAC report when it reaches Congress for a vote," he said.

Still pending was a vote on the plan to close the National Guard's 131st Fighter Wing at Lambert Airport in St. Louis, expected Friday.

Lawmakers say the fighter wing and its 250 jobs are crucial to homeland security defense in the Midwest. The Pentagon's plan calls for shifting people, equipment and aircraft among at least 54 sites where Air Guard units now are stationed. Roughly two dozen sites would expand, while about 30, including the one at Lambert, would be closed or downsized. The St. Louis fighter wing would be moved to bases in Nellis, Nev., and Atlantic City, N.J.

At the Overland facility, the Pentagon had earlier said about 2,000 jobs would be lost. Spokeswoman Julie Collins said the actual number is 1,100 -- 700 civilian and 400 military jobs. She couldn't reconcile the difference, but said the Human Resources Command has undergone structural changes in recent years.

The command provides career management, retirement assistance and other human resource functions for members of the U.S. Army Reserve, as well as Army retirees. The cuts do not affect the Personnel Records Center, next door to the Human Resources Command in Overland.

Missouri lawmakers have told the BRAC Commission it would be cheaper for the military to consolidate human resources jobs in St. Louis instead of Fort Knox.

Sharon Bryant, 54, was assuming the worst. She considers herself a "short-timer" after working as a mailroom clerk in Overland for 11 years.

"Some people have been here 20, 30, 40 years," Bryant said. "We're going to lose our security, our income, our financial stability. We'll have to look for ways to cut back."

The loss of jobs would be felt beyond the plant. Just a few doors down sits the VN Cafe, specializing in Vietnamese cuisine. Waiter Cory Pham said the restaurant serves dozens of meals every week to government employees.

"If they close, it will affect us a lot," he said. "They said that they would feel bad for us if the center closes. We're new. We've only been here 11 months."