THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 26, 1996 TAG: 9609260291
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 79 lines
Its buildings - up to 100 - have occupied prominent places at the Norfolk Naval Air Station ever since 1917. Young men walked out of high school and through its doors, and retired years later. It was the sort of place no one thought would ever close.
Wednesday, it did.
The Naval Aviation Depot lowered its flag for the last time in a ceremony attended by about 1,000 former employees. Operating with a reduced staff for the past two years, NADEP ultimately, and finally, became a victim of downsizing.
Since the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended in 1993 that the 79-year-old aircraft overhaul and repair facility shut down, NADEP employees have adopted a ``Close with Class'' motto to keep working through the closing.
Capt. Ted Morandi, NADEP's commanding officer for the past year, said the plant, with only 33 percent of its original work force, was still able to deliver 1.2 million hours of work since the summer of 1995. And it delivered 26 overhauled tactical aircraft to the fleet.
Morandi presented the Superior Civilian Service Award to Ron Perry, whose ``40 years of experience helped navigate NADEP through its closing'' as he pulled together a team to orchestrate employee transfers, retirements and job searches. The facility had been Perry's life, Morandi said.
It was life - at least, career life - for thousands of mechanics, engineers, electricians, sheet metal workers and other tradesmen. No matter what the acronym - NARF and NADEP were the most recent - most air station employees, and a lot of local residents, knew where airplanes got fixed.
``I put one foot out of high school, walked in here as a helper in 1961, and I've been here ever since,'' said Jack Modlin, 53. ``It's supported me and my family for 32 years.''
Modlin, an air frames mechanic, was one of the first NADEP employees to take the government's offer of early retirement. He retired in 1993 but then came right back to work with a private contractor that was hired to close the facility.
``When you spend nearly all of your waking hours at a place, it's like home; all the people become your friends,'' he said.
Indeed, there seemed Wednesday to be an extraordinary loyalty to Building V-28, a huge, beige, nondescript, typically industrial-looking facility. Workers - and one commanding officer - who had retired from NADEP in the 1960s were part of the audience.
In its heyday, during World War II, the plant had more than 8,000 employees. When the closing announcement came, there were 4,500. In the past year that number has dropped to less than 800, most of whom remained only to help shut it down.
Part of the initial shock, and now sadness, said Robert ``Butch'' Zarn, 51, is the major loss of employees from the community. About a third took jobs outside Hampton Roads, another third retired, and the other 1,500 have managed to find work in the area.
Zarn, a quality inspections specialist, said the closing was ``a sad affair. My career ended when I didn't want it to.'' He is staying in the area to start a consulting business. To help workers cope, Zarn adopted a motto that he shared with them: ``They closed the best to save the rest.''
The command made every effort, said Bob Turner, ``of getting into a business that's not our business,'' namely to help workers find jobs, review taxes and make contact with city employment offices. ``The command said, `The decision's been made, now it's time to move on.' ''
Turner, 53, has been at the depot for 35 years. His wife calls him ``a NADEP fossil.'' As a production supervisor, he's seen what he calls ``a continuity of workmanship from one generation to another.''
Morandi said NADEP had a policy of not leaving unfinished business, so he wanted to deliver the last aircraft to have work completed at the plant. As he requested ``a little traveling music'' from the Atlantic Fleet Band, a rebuilt F-14 Tomcat, designated SR-15 by the depot, flew over the crowd.
``As you can see,'' he said, ``the folks here wanted to go out in style.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
BILL TIERNAN
The Virginian-Pilot
After closing ceremonies, current and former NADEP workers attended
a reception Wednesday at Building V-28 at the Norfolk Naval Air
Station, where a flag was draped over the entrance. by CNB