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This is an Army Today Extra.
Base Realignment and Closure is bringing change to Army installations.
Gail McCabe shows us how BRAC is transforming one Army community.
Sergeant Katherine Mueller needs a new home.
Yeah, it's a hundred dollar deposit.
Mueller is one of approximately 30,000 soldiers relocating to Fort Bliss--
--as a part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure.
I arrived on Sunday. I was very scared coming over here. I didn't know what to expect.
As part of BRAC, soldiers of the 1st Armored Division, like Mueller, are moving to Texas.
And like many of her peers, Mueller and her family will be living in the southwest city of El Paso.
We're looking at end state something in the neighborhood of about $5 billion per year direct impact--that's direct to our economy.
Richard Dayoub is president and CEO of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce.
It's an explosion for El Paso.
The rest of the country is really in big trouble--
--and El Paso, I think, would be probably riding the coattails of that same problem nationally--
--if it were not for the expansion at Fort Bliss.
It's expansion El Paso embraces as part of Team Bliss, a cooperative effort between the local and military communities--
--with the joint objective of managed growth.
To date, the city has raised some $700 million in bonds for new schools and quality of life projects.
College scholarships have been created especially for military spouses--
--and new roadwork specifically for the Army post is underway.
Around the post, we have to build 7 new entry points into the post.
Major General Howard Bromberg, Fort Bliss Commander, says the Texas Department of Transportation is spending $400 million on critical access highways.
You'll see that we're building overpasses to try to connect the housing areas so you don't have to go through stoplights.
All that is funded by the state of Texas.
Moves designed to make new residents, like Sergeant Mueller, feel right at home.
It was a very easy transition.
Currently, some 6,000 soldiers have already moved to Fort Bliss as part of BRAC--
--with thousands more expected in the next few years--
--population, the city of El Paso says, they welcome.
This is one of the biggest things that's happened in America--
--and it really will change the landscape of El Paso forever.
Gail McCabe, El Paso, Texas.
[♪techno music playing♪] That's an Army Today Extra from Soldiers Radio and Television, Washington.
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