Duke City and Kirtland Brace for Cuts

Kirtland AFB

KOAT TV - The Kirtland Air Force base and the entire state is preparing, waiting to find out if the air base, a multi-billion-dollar industry that fuels Albuquerque and helps protect the entire city, will be one of the bases to close due to Department of Defense budget cuts.
"It's all very important to national security, and it happens to be in our city," said Mayor Richard Berry. "The $4.3 billion of direct spending in our city, the 21,000 jobs are very meaningful for Albuquerque."
Berry said he'll fight tooth and nail to keep the base open if necessary.
On Thursday, the Department of Defense announced that it will look to close some military bases as part of a proposed massive cost-cutting overhaul, but which bases remain unknown.
Officials said Kirtland has been down the same road before. In 1995, the base ended up on a list of potential closures, but Michael Chase, of the Kirtland partnership committee, said they were able to convince Washington to keep the base open. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Duke City and Kirtland Brace for Cuts