THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 28, 1994 TAG: 9410280606
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LISE OLSEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Speaking at an elementary school that will be razed and relocated to help save Oceana Naval Air Station, Navy Secretary John Dalton gave little reassurance Thursday that the effort would be worth the trouble.
Few expected he would. Until Defense Secretary William Perry makes his recommendations this spring, little official comment is expected on which installations will be targeted in the third and final round of base closings.
Dalton did say the community's commitment to Oceana, as well as the good condition of its hangars and runways, would be factors in the next round of base-closing decisions. With 9,500 active-duty personnel, 12,000 Navy dependents and 1,700 civilians, Oceana is a top city concern.
In a show of support for the base, the City Council has provided money to relocate two schools that are in Oceana's crash zone - Seatack Elementary and Linkhorn Elementary. New sites already have been identified for both schools.
Dalton spoke at Seatack after an hourlong tour of Oceana with U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb, U.S. Rep. Owen Pickett, and Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf. All three, Dalton said, lobbied him on behalf of Oceana during the tour.
Their central message: Bring to Oceana the F/A-18 Hornets, the plane on which the Navy has pinned its future. East Coast Hornet squadrons now are scheduled to go to a Marine Corps base in North Carolina.
At one point, Oberndorf handed the secretary a page from the city's capital improvement plan showing financial details of the school relocation plan.
Robb and Pickett, both seeking re-election, made the visit part of their campaign. But only Robb continued on to the school, accompanied by the secretary and mayor.
The atmosphere was light-hearted at Seatack, though many who work there dread the day their building will close. Seatack, built before busing desegregated the city's schools, has long been a community center and source of pride in Virginia Beach.
In the Seatack lunchroom, Robb spent several minutes querying first-graders. When he asked if their dads were in the Navy, eager hands shot up. But when he talked about the quality of the school food, they were quiet.
Next, Robb and Dalton continued down the hall for a peek at the computer lab. In the hallway, Dalton admitted to a bad case of computer phobia.
As Robb made his way to the exit, an anxious parent ran up to greet him. She confided her fear that school employees would lose their jobs when Seatack closed. Robb threw an arm around her and reassured her that the new school would be bigger and better - and that no one would be laid off. by CNB