The proposal, noted in a recent report of the federal Government Accountability Office, could have resulted in thousands of troops being redeployed to Utah.

But an Army analysis ultimately concluded it would be too expensive to build the necessary structures.

The GAO report - a 273-page evaluation of the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure process - contained few other clues about how Defense Department officials considered the fate of Utah's bases. There is no mention of the state's largest installation, Hill Air Force Base, in the report.

As has been the case in reports from past base study rounds, auditors noted the Pentagon steered clear of taking actions that would result in the greatest potential savings: closing a large number of active bases.

That, of course, would be an action contrary to the economic and political desires of communities surrounding every active base. Though Beehive State installations were largely left off the Pentagon's list, Utah Defense Alliance executive director Rick Mayfield said his organization is still working to ensure Utah's lot doesn't worsen - and is taking action to try to benefit the state's bases in the future.

Though the mobilization of thousands of troops to Utah may have been such an action, Mayfield says he never heard of the Army's proposal. "We haven't been a part of it," he said.

Tooele's Deseret Chemical Depot was the only large Utah base listed for closure when the Pentagon released its proposals in May.

Because the depot was already slated for closure following the destruction of its stockpile of chemical munitions by December 2007, few took issue with the recommendation.

The GAO report questions whether Deseret and other chemical weapons depots belong on the list, however, because auditors say they are uncertain their stockpiles will be disposed of on schedule.

Tooele is more than halfway done with the destruction of its stockpile, but several other depots are significantly further behind in the process.

Deseret spokeswoman Alaine Southworth confirmed that the target date of completion for her facility may slip back, "just a bit," from the 2007 mark, but "we've always talked about being down to the ground by 2010."

That, she noted, would still keep Deseret's closure within the six-year window mandated by federal laws governing base closures.