Americans Start to Leave Air Base in Azores, and Locals Fear Economic Impact - NYTimes.com: Above the mirror in his barbershop, João Rocha has an old picture of American airmen filling all the seats and getting, of course, crew cuts.
Far fewer Americans are showing up these days, he said, and soon probably none. “It’s really bad for everybody here that the Americans are leaving,” Mr. Rocha said.
By the end of the year, the Air Force plans a major downsizing of its base here on Terceira Island in the Atlantic’s Azores archipelago, as part of broader cuts in American military spending and as mid-Atlantic stopovers drop down the list of Washington’s military priorities.
The number of personnel at the base is expected to drop to 165 from 650, while the number of Portuguese workers will be cut in half, to 400. The local municipality expects the loss of 1,500 indirect jobs and a cut of 6 percent in the island’s gross domestic product. Air Force officials here said the goal was to offer employees an early retirement package and to avoid firing staff members.
