Monterey braces for a potential round of BRAC.

The military is known for its love of acronyms. One, however, sends shivers down the spines of military personnel and community leaders alike: BRAC.

Base Realignment and Closure is the process the U.S. Department of Defense uses to study its military operations with an eye toward consolidating or closing installations to save money. Fort Ord was shuttered in 1994, based on a 1991 BRAC Commission recommendation.

“There are small businesses and individuals who never recovered after the Fort Ord closure,” says Mary Ann Leffel, president of the Monterey County Business Council.

In 2005, both the Naval Postgraduate School and the Defense Language Institute in Monterey found themselves on a BRAC list. The schools escaped, but local officials believe they remain vulnerable to future BRAC actions.

While it may save the Department of Defense some money, relocating or closing military installations in Monterey County could cost up to $1.4 billion a year locally, according to the Business Council.

Last month military communities across the country pricked their ears up when U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said he was interested in renewing BRAC efforts. The House Armed Services Committee conducted hearings last week.

U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, is a co-sponsor of the Military Infrastructure Consolidation and Efficiency Act of 2017 with Rep. Adam Smith, D-Washington. The bill would require a round of BRAC, but Panetta says the bill includes language emphasizing that the military would have to prioritize professional military education “as an important part of military readiness and training,” in determining which facilities to cut.

Leffel and Monterey City Manager Mike McCarthy say they’re ready to make their case to the DOD if NPS or DLI are placed on a future BRAC list.

McCarthy points to a partnership known nationally as the “Monterey Model.” The city and the Department of Defense entered into agreements for Monterey to provide municipal services – at a cost savings to the feds – to the Presidio of Monterey after Fort Ord closed. “We established this model so we become even more important to the Army,” McCarthy says. “We make sure that Monterey is well-known in the defense community and in Washington.”

Leffel says the Business Council has been working on efforts like trademarking the term “Language Capital of the World” to highlight how the region is home to DLI and other organizations focused on foreign languages.