Defense budget proposal ends era of South Sound military growth

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s $496 billion Pentagon budget proposal signals the end of a long run of military growth in the South Sound.

For the first time in more than a decade, the proposed Defense Department budget does not include funds for new construction at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Since 2001, the Army has spent $2.2 billion building up the base.

The budget plan also could slash up to 440 positions in the Washington National Guard, headquartered at Lakewood’s Camp Murray. 

And Hagel’s proposal to reduce the number of troops in the active-duty Army from today’s 522,000 to a force of less than 450,000 is bound to reverberate at Lewis-McChord.

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