IU, city offer support for base

IU President Adam Herbert pledged IU would help recoup job losses as the Pentagon proposed to cut back workers at Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center. The base is located 30 miles southwest of Bloomington.\nIU signed a contract in January to strengthen its liaison with Crane in military-related research. Herbert said the geographical proximity of IU and their partnership with Crane should help foster more research and could help the Naval Base prosper.\n"With this new challenge arising for Indiana, I want to reaffirm the commitment of Indiana University in strengthening our partnership with Crane and the state," Herbert said. "Crane and the surrounding area would make an ideal location for the kinds of research and development initiatives that will be evolving in the fields of national defense and homeland security."\nThe Pentagon is proposing job cuts to many military bases across the nation. Crane, Indiana's largest military employer, could lose 683 of its 4,000 jobs if the recommendations go into affect this fall. \nCrane's projected job cuts could affect the Bloomington economy negatively just as it will affect other surrounding towns. In order to combat that, Herbert has already announced the creation of a new position so that organizations will have a point of contact within the University for research proposals, with a search for a candidates set to begin this summer.\nThe cooperative research agreement, signed by IU, Purdue, the state, and Crane will mean more military-related research proposals for IU, said Larry MacIntyre, IU's director of media relations. IU has not begun any projects with Crane, MacIntyre said, but the job cuts at Crane could create a need to further outsource research to institutions like IU. \n"(Crane) now knows it can come to IU or Purdue with research proposals and we're going to be ready to entertain those proposals and do what we can to get it going," MacIntyre said. \nMacIntyre said cutting back jobs now could increase Crane's chances of growth in the future, because of the partnership.\nCrane currently produces, develops and manages a variety of military equipment such as vacuum tubes, electronic warfare systems, electronic counter-warfare systems for ships, night vision, smart bombs and smart munitions. These technical jobs could potentially be augmented by researchers at IU, MacIntyre said.\nBloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan said he is happy the Pentagon has chosen to at least keep Crane open.\n"We've known for a long time that the efforts to 'save Crane' would be an uphill battle," Kruzan said. "We are extremely encouraged that the Department of Defense has recognized Crane's economic and military value and has not placed it on the closure list."\nThe Base Realignment and Closure Commission will make recommendations based on the Pentagons proposals to President Bush by Sept. 8.