BRAC
Federal Military Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)
The State of Maryland as a whole fared extremely well when the President approved recommendations from the Federal Military Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission and the Congress passed them into law in 2005.
As a result of these actions, both Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County and Fort George G. Meade (Fort Meade) in neighboring Anne Arundel County will add new missions and personnel. As many as 2,700 new personnel (both BRAC and non-BRAC related) have been projected for Joint Base Andrews, with another 22,000 personnel being added at Fort Meade—if growth at NSA is included. For the counties in Maryland that host these military bases, the attendant opportunities to attract new residents and business growth in the years leading up to 2011 and beyond aresignificant.
In order to plan effectively for this growth, Prince George’s County created a BRAC Action Plan in 2007 guided by input from representatives ofcounty agencies, educational and training institutions, elected officials and interested citizens. In 2009, the County created a BRAC Zone predominately consisting of an area surrounding the Branch Avenue Metro Station to take advantage of a State of Maryland program that would allow the County to be reimbursed for infrastructure investments in the Zone. A second BRAC Zone, in Laurel, is located at the Laurel MARC Station.