Changes in store for military Reserve Centers in Broken Arrow and Muskogee

Friday, May 13th 2005, 2:06 pm

By: News On 6

While the BRAC is overwhelmingly positive for Oklahoma, it does call for some closures. Five reserve bases are affected, including Armed Forces Reserve Centers in Broken Arrow and Muskogee. But military officials say the moves aren't bad news for northeastern Oklahoma.

News on 6 reporter Heather Lewin says technically these units will just be shifting around.

Military officials tell the News on 6 they may be losing buildings, but not reserve personnel. The Broken Arrow Center, which is home to Army, Navy and Marine reservists, would be closed. But those units would simply move into a new building, built in the Tulsa area. And while the Pentagon list shows a location in Tulsa closing, those 32 people it mentions are already housed at the Broken Arrow facility.

In Muskogee, members of the 827th Army Reserve unit were already scheduled to be inactivated. It will be replaced by another unit based in Arkansas, with a smaller detachment in Muskogee. Under the BRAC the building would be closed and a new facility built.

Officials say in the short term, for reservists, nothing will change.

In fact all of the BRAC changes still need Presidential approval, and then the list goes to Congress, where members have 45 days to reject it. If the list is approved, the military has up to four years to complete the changes.