"Dugway Proving Ground is the nation's chemical and defense proving ground," says Paula Nicholson, spokeswoman for the secretive high-desert post. "To my knowledge no other proving ground or area is totally dedicated to chemical and biological testing."

Nicholson isn't claiming to know what will happen later this week, insisting, "Any installation could close."

But unlike most military installations, Dugway is a one-of-a-kind operation. And defenders of Utah's bases figure that puts the Tooele County facility in great shape to survive.

"They have a unique mission, core to the Department of Defense and today's threats," says Vickie McCall, president of the Utah Defense Alliance.

McCall's group aims to protect all of Utah's military facilities from closure or downsizing in this round of realignment. While the organization has trained much of its focus on Hill, it is also keenly interested in protecting Dugway and its 1,200 jobs.

And the way McCall sees it, Dugway's large facility and proximity to the Utah Test and Training Range give the chemical and biological defense system testing area a "tremendous opportunity to expand."

McCall makes a similar case for the Tooele Army Depot.

But unlike Dugway, the depot doesn't maintain a unique mission within the military. The Defense Department operates several similar facilities that store "go-to-war" ammo. The closest is in McAllister, Okla.

"We're the only one west of the Rockies," observes Malcolm Walden, Tooele's Base Realignment and Closure officer. "We have good geographic advantages. That's our one big stick in the fire."

But Walden knows from experience that Tooele could get "listed" later this week. The base served as the maintenance center for many of the Army's wheeled vehicles until 1993, when it was downsized in an earlier round of realignments.

"We went from thousands of people working here to hundreds just like that," Walden says of the years following the 1993 decision. Tooele's maintenance mission was farmed out to other bases and private contractors.

It's sole remaining mission is munition storage. About 550 people work at the base.

Walden says he's "cautiously optimistic." The same phrase echoed on more than 400 Web sites discussing base realignment developments earlier this week.

It's far less common when Googled next to the words "National Guard." At this point, the Pentagon's guard base intentions are somewhat unclear.

While careful not to suggest that the Defense Department intends to shut down guard bases, Pentagon officials have made it clear they believe they have that authority. Governors from several states have questioned whether military decision makers could close guard bases without state permission. The nine-member commission that will investigate the Pentagon's realignment choices has asked for a legal ruling.

Meanwhile, Utah's National Guard units are operating under the assumption that Beehive State bases are "below the zone of consideration" for realignment, according to Maj. Hank McIntire.

McCall is less confident.

"If you look at the criteria and all the directives coming out from the Department of Defense, Secretary Rumsfeld is very concerned about the utilization of infrastructure," she says. "We have to make the best use of what we have, that's where the dollar savings will come from, and if that means consolidation of guard units onto active duty bases, that's probably the direction we're going to go."

mlaplante@sltrib.com