Dayton, Ohio, home to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is the preferred site for the new Air Force Claims Service Center, slated to open in Fiscal 2007. The AFCSC would be the service’s one-stop shop for all personal property claims normally filed at individual bases. The 100-person operation also would handle claims for household goods damaged during moves between bases. Officials expect the consolidation of claims services will save $60 million over the first 10 years. The Dayton Daily News speculated that the center might find a home on the former Defense Finance and Accounting Service Center in Kettering, a suburb of Dayton.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.