Defense plant cutbacks and military base closures have affected hundreds of U.S. communities during the past twenty-five years. Tracing the recovery of four communities after large defense plant cutbacks and of one hundred communities after military base closures, the contributors analyze the transition from the production of military to civilian goods. The contributors examine the market potential of reusing defense industrial plants to produce civilian products within the one- to two-year period called for by economic conversion proponents, showing that the complex process needed to develop, test, and market an entirely new product requires a minimum of five years. They also review the wide range of economic development techniques available at the state and local level, conversion approaches in Western Europe, programs for displaced workers, and reasons why the economic conversion approach has failed to attract public support in the United States. The case studies are used to formulate an integrated, composite approach for coping with plant closures and major employment dislocations. Stressing the in portance of community-based economic adjustment activities, this book will be valuable to all concerned with mitigating the effects of military and civilian plant closures.

This text discusses the economic, social and political implications of redirecting labour and capital from a military-based to a post-Cold War economy.

The end of the Cold War in 1989 gave rise to hopes for a new, more peaceful international system and for the redirection of military expenditures—over one-half of annual U.S. federal discretionary spending—toward education and health care, renewing the nation's infrastructure, environmental mitigation, and alternative energy sources. At the beginning of the 21st Century, U.S. military spending remains stuck at 85% of the Cold War average. Why? As Accordino explains, at the federal level, the Iron Triangle comprised of the Pentagon, defense contractors, and a conservative Congress maintained defense spending at Cold War levels, encouraging contractors to stay focused on defense. When some procurement cutbacks and base closures occurred, growth interests recruited lower-wage branch plants, sports, and entertainment facilities, rather than supporting the hard work of defense conversion that creates higher-paying jobs. Nevertheless, some defense contractors and community interests did embrace conversion, showing remarkable potential. Of particular interest to scholars and researchers involved with urban and regional planning, public administration and local politics, and regional economic development.

Recent political developments imply a much larger part of our economy will be devoted to civilian enterprises and a much smaller part to military work than in the recent past. This book examines the impact on the technical community, particularly engineers, of the conversion of defense-related industries to civilian-oriented activities. Currently about one third of all engineers work on military projects, and four fifths of all federal research and development is defense-related. The essays in this volume are by academic researchers (in disciplines ranging from psychology and philosophy to economics and engineering), engineers and managers from companies that work on military projects, and representatives of some of the professional societies of engineers. They address the questions: What will be the impact on the technical community of the economic conversion? What effect will the technical community have on the conversion? What actions can one take to minimize the destructive and maximize the constructive effects of the conversion? What are the implications for engineering education, professional work, and public policy?

This book shows how to make the smoothest possible transition to civilian use of newly released military resources, especially the physical and human resources that have been devoted to defense production and thereby help people make the required economic adjustment.