Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld originally suggested the military would be cutting its base capacity by 20 to 25 percent in the current round of Base Closure and Realignment considerations.

Now Rumsfeld has told newspaper editorial writers in a conference call that the closures will probably amount to less than half that.

This is the first round of base closures in more than a decade and communities across the country, including Meridian, have been nervously awaiting word about whether their base is on the list.

Rumsfeld suggested several weeks ago that the base cuts might not be as deep as first thought because of the decision to bring some 70,000 soldiers home from Cold War-era bases in Europe.