Obama to close Virginia military base that employs 5000

• 8/9, BBC, "US Defence Secretary Gates proposes defence cuts"

"US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has recommended axeing one of the ten major US military commands in a major reallocation of defence spending.

• Mr Gates said the Joint Forces Command would close, the use of outside contractors would be cut and the number of generals and admirals reduced.

He has said that he wants to find savings of about $100bn (£63bn) in the military budget in the next five years....

• The Joint Forces Command, based in Virginia,
  
• employs 5,000 people and trains troops from the different services to work together."...