Strategic Reinvestment to Strengthen Youth: Charleston, South Carolina
Published Date: June 1, 1994
As our Nation's military continues to draw down and reshape itself, important resources can be strategically reinvested to strengthen youth. These resources include personnel, equipment, and facilities. The CNA Corporation examined the potential use of these resources within its Veterans Transition and Defense conversion project which was completed in 1993. This preliminary study produced the framework for an assessment process designed to match military resources with the needs of youth and their communities. Admiral William A. Owens (who at the time was Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Resources, Warfare Requirements, and Assessments) sponsored a follow-up research project in which we were asked to apply our preliminary work in communities where the Navy has had a long-standing presence but is now preparing to reduce that presence by closing bases. He saw these closures, while initially devastating in economic terms, as an opportunity for the Navy and the country as a whole to help strengthen youth. Specifically, he was concerned that not enough was being done to help young people become better citizens. The analysis plan called for a full application of the assessment process in Oakland/Alameda and a more limited effort in the Charleston, South Carolina area. The Charleston effort, which we describe here, was to be done quickly and to focus on facilities only.
