BRAC and Other Expansion at Fort Detrick

Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a statutory means for Department of Defense (DoD), White House and Congressional review and optimization of the Department’s real estate. It occurs periodically -- most recently in 2005. This latest BRAC round has had a positive effect on Fort Detrick, bringing 242 BRAC-related jobs.

The BRAC expansion will add a state-of-the-art Armed Forces Reserve Center at Area B's existing Flair Armory, a Medical Biological Defense Research Center of Excellence at USAMRIID, and a Medical Research and Development/Acquisition Center of Excellence that will house a new administrative facility.

While the BRAC-related expansion is important, it is just part of the growth at Fort Detrick that is related to the National Interagency Biodefense Campus (NIBC) and other activities that will bring an additional 1,200 jobs to the Post. There will be a secondary regional benefit associated with new jobs that will support and provide goods and services for the new Fort Detrick employees and related personnel in Frederick County and the region who look to the region for housing.

The Fort Detrick BRAC activities and the 242 jobs that go along with them must be in place by 2011. The schedule for other Fort Detrick expansion activities is much more compressed: 500 of the 1,200 planned jobs are expected to be filled through 2009 to support the other federal agencies’ expansion.

This growth requires comprehensive planning in areas such as infrastructure, education, housing, transportation, and workforce development. Some funding to support this growth may be available from the State of Maryland's BRAC Enhancement and Revitalization Zone legislation (The BRAC Community Enhancement Act -- Senate Bill 206) that provides an opportunity for local areas to take advantage of financing assistance for public infrastructure needs.  Frederick was one of the first jurisdictions in the State to have a BRAC Zone designated in December 2008.