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When the Military Leaves and Places Change

Effects of the Closing of an Army Post on the Local Community

Johns Hopkins University

Mady Wechsler Segal

University of Maryland

Fort Ritchie Army Garrison in Cascade, Maryland, slated for closure as part of the 1995 base realignment and closure (BRAC) round, officially ceased military operations on September 30, 1998. More than eight years later, a confluence of circumstances had prevented its reuse, and the community had yet to benefit from reuse efforts. To understand how such base closings affect the local community and the character of a place, an ethnographic case study and a post hoc social impact assessment were conducted. Told in this article is the story of how one community has responded and adjusted to the loss of the military, which provides lessons for other communities facing base closings and for federal entities tasked with overseeing and facilitating the process.

Key Words: BRAC • base closing • community • place theory • ethnography

This version was published on July 1, 2008

Armed Forces & Society, Vol. 34, No. 4, 662-681 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0095327X07308634


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