Military Base Closure and Community Transformation: The Case of England Air Force Base in Central Louisiana

Closing England Air Force Base (AFB) emerged as a possibility following the first Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round in 1988. The central Louisiana community responded with a dual strategy: defense, implemented by a highly visible group of mostly elected officials who fought to save the base; and offense, implemented by a small group of professionals working in the background to develop a contingency plan. Together, they managed both sides of the change equation, political and technical, and produced a military to civilian conversion. This thesis focuses on policy issues of base closure and ingredients for success and failure among communities affected by such disruption. The main research question is: Was the military to civilian conversion of England AFB successful; and if so, how and why? In answering this question, hopefully, the work also illuminates how success is defined and identifies some of the strategies adopted to produce a successful conversion.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School of Urban Planning and Regional Studies

Year

2008

Author dc:creator

• Mayo, Phyllis E.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Gladstone, David L.
• Kiefer, John J.
• Renne, John L.

• England Air Force Base
• England Airpark and Community
• Central Louisiana Community
• Base Closure
• Base Development and Reuse
• Military to Civilian Conversion

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/898

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.uno.edu:td-1879