Mobilizing for Youth-Related Outcomes in Local Defense Conversion Planning: The Political Context
Published Date: October 1, 1994
Over the coming years, the U.S. military, a significant employer and trainer of young people, will continue its post-Cold War drawdown. During the reshaping of the military, the following question arises: Is it possible to reinvest some of these important resources to strengthen youth? The CNA Corporation has examined various aspects of this question during the past two years. During the first year of our work, we established a framework for assessing local possibilities for 'Strategic Reinvestment to Strengthen Youth'--redirecting military resources in the communities surrounding military bases. We were then sponsored by the Navy to apply this work in specific places that had bases targeted for closure. The objective of this second year of research was to examine the entire range of options for connecting military resources with youth in these communities. The longer range thinking was that, if this assessment process produced results valuable in localities where the Navy is now significantly decreasing its presence, it could be adapted for wider use following the 1995 base closure announcements. The communities of Oakland/Alameda, California were designated for the full assessment. We limited our detailed data-collection effort to those closing Navy installations and the surrounding communities that are closest to the Oakland/Alameda area. In this research memorandum, one of a series of four documents covering specific components of this project, we look at the political context of defense conversion planning
