''The changes are essential in helping us win in this conflict,'' the Pentagon chief said, adding that eliminating unneeded property to save money for combat capabilities was ''more necessary, not less, during a time of war.''
The first round of base closings in a decade seeks to save $48.8 billion over 20 years by streamlining services across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, shutting down bases deemed inefficient, and promoting cooperation among the four branches.
Overall, it aims to restructure a military configured to defend against Soviet threats into one focused on terrorist threats of today.
''If we don't make some of this happen, we're going to be stuck in the Cold War mind set for a long time to come,'' Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the nine-member commission.
Former Utah Rep. Jim Hansen said the Pentagon may not get another shot at realignment.
“As an old member of the House Armed Services Committee for many years, I'm convinced that this is your last bite at the apple,” Hansen said. “I can't see this happening again, with the fights we had to go through to get this one.”
Rumsfeld said there will have to be another BRAC round to keep pace with shifting threats, but it could be five to 10 years down the road.
Hansen said he expected to see more cross-service consolidation than he did in the list, and that the Pentagon didn't give more weight to limits on an installation's use that result from environmental objections.
Rumsfeld said environmental limits were taken into account in several instances.
“It is something we constantly face and worry with and I'm sure the environmental issues were taken into account here,” he said.
With the exception of skepticism over recommended changes to National Guard and Reserve units, the panel sounded open to the overall plan to close or reduce forces at 62 major bases and 775 minor installations.
Dozens of other facilities would grow, absorbing troops from domestic and overseas U.S. bases slated for closure or downsizing.
Rumsfeld warned the panel that tinkering with one facility - or try to ''pull a thread'' - could cause plans for other parts of the U.S. defense network to unravel.
''One must be careful about taking a selective look at individual components or pieces of these recommendations without considering how those components or pieces fit into the larger whole,'' he said.
Commission chairman Anthony Principi told Rumsfeld that the panel ''noted the complexity'' of the proposal.
''It'll make our work harder, but certainly we understand that and we'll certainly take it into consideration as we look at the seamless whole and not just an individual military installation,'' said Principi, a former veterans affairs secretary under President Bush.
The commission will spend the next few months deciding whether to change the report before sending a final report to President Bush and Congress this fall.
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The Salt Lake Tribune contributed to this article.
