Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) got his wish—kind of. The BRAC commission voted not to close NAS Oceana in Warner’s state. The Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has been lobbying to prevent its closure. However, there are strings attached. The commission said Virginia and local officials have until March 2006 to condemn and buy up property encroaching on Oceana. Failure to do so will result in the movement of Oceana’s activities to Cecil Field, Fla.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.