THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 1, 1995 TAG: 9503010489
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY AND DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 148 lines
Oceana would inherit more people than any other military installation under Tuesday's base-closing recommendations, riding added squadrons of F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornets to new status as a virtual ``Fighter Town U.S.A.''
Plans call for the naval air station to grow by about one-third more aircraft and half again as many people between now and 1997 - to roughly the size it was during the peak of the military's nationwide buildup in 1989.
The difference this time is that the growth comes as the military is shrinking, and at the expense of other bases. Officials in North Carolina, which had been scheduled to pick up the F/A-18s now recommended for Oceana, have threatened a challenge.
Local officials say they'll be ready for it. Meantime, Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf is counting the economic impact from extra military personnel, civilians and dependents - an estimated $150 million, she said.
``This is the happiest I've been in 21 years,'' said Troy Curnutte, a civilian who has worked more than two decades at Oceana. ``This is just great! Now we'll be known as `Fighter Town U.S.A.' ''
His reference is to Miramar Naval Air Station near San Diego, which claims the title on signs made famous in the movie ``Top Gun.'' Miramar is losing the Tomcats - recommended for Oceana - in a move that would place all Tomcats in the United States at the Virginia Beach base.
Navy Secretary Dalton said Tuesday the recommendation makes sense: ``At Oceana, we had facilities that are very high quality, many of which are underutilized.''
Among the 146 installations on the base-closing list, only Fort McClellan in Georgia showed a greater impact than Oceana. The Army base, with 8,500 military and civilian workers, is recommended for closure.
Asked Tuesday if he is expecting company soon, Oceana's commanding officer, Capt. William H Shurtleff IV, chuckled and said, ``I am and I like it.''
Specifically, Oceana would receive eight squadrons of F/A-18s - 163 planes, 3,288 military and 111 civilians - from Cecil Field Naval Air Station, Fla., which was ordered closed by the 1993 base-closing commission.
In addition, it may end up with about 180 F-14s, including those currently assigned here, when four squadrons are moved from Miramar.
Threatened with being on the list two years ago, Oceana not only dodged the next round of base-closing bullets but may have removed itself as target. Its fleet of A-6 Intruder bombers is being retired and its current inventory of F-14s has been dwindling. But the new planes would insulate Oceana from the threat of closure.
``A lot of people have weighed in in support of this effort and everybody's entitled to feel good about the result,'' said U.S. Rep. Owen B. Pickett, a Virginia Beach Democrat who led an aggressive public relations campaign to save the base.
The Pentagon recommendations will be reviewed beginning today by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, which could change them before making its final report to President Clinton by July 1. In more than four of five cases during past years, the commission has stuck with the Pentagon recommendations.
Oceana's gains would come largely at the expense of the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point, N.C. The 1993 commission decided to move 11 squadrons of F/A-18 strike-fighter jets from Cecil Field, near Jacksonville, Fla., to Cherry Point. The Pentagon's new proposal would override that in favor of a move to Oceana.
Cherry Point would instead pick up about 700 military personnel assigned to two squadrons of C-130 aircraft, a multipurpose cargo-hauling craft.
``I am disappointed that Clinton administration political appointees would attempt to interfere with the integrity of the 1993 BRAC,'' said Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., a Republican whose district includes Cherry Point and much of northeastern North Carolina. He said he would lobby the 1995 BRAC to uphold the earlier decision.
Virginia leaders had urged the Navy to take a second look at the cost of moving the 160-plus Cecil Field F/A-18s to Cherry Point, arguing that the Carolina base sits in an environmentally sensitive area and would need to have substantial new facilities to handle the added planes.
Unlike in 1993, Oberndorf and other local officials have been working for months to fend off that challenge and any other.
``If - heaven forbid - someone forces us to come to the table, we're ready to re-prove our case that this investment is the best for the federal taxpayer,'' she said. ``I guess my position is: Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. We're ready.''
The staff of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission is developing a list of installations where local officials may feel the need to take on Hampton Roads, said Art Collins, executive director.
``It's not over yet. We may have the first half won, but there's another half to be won. What counts is where you are on July 1, not where you are on March 1.''
Hampton Roads' big loss in the 1993 round of base closings was a repair center for F-14s, the Norfolk Naval Aviation Depot. The work and many of the 4,000 workers there are moving to Jacksonville, Fla., depot 1,000 miles away. Once rumored as a base closing target, Jacksonville is not on the list.
U.S. Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., asked Secretary Dalton to review the depot closing in light of the F-14 relocation, but Navy sources said Tuesday the chances of a reversal are remote.
The changes at Oceana will not come overnight, Capt. Shurtleff said.
The number of squadrons now assigned there continues to dwindle, he noted. In addition, the base will not be getting 50 S-3 Viking anti-submarine planes ordered there by the 1993 commission. They are going to Jacksonville Naval Air Station instead.
``So there will be some more decline in the population here for a little while. . . . Then, after we bottom out and new assets are redirected here we will start climbing up again.''
Cindy Frano hopes he's right. A teacher and mother of two boys, Frano is the wife of a Navy officer whose plane, the A-6 Intruder bomber, is being phased out. There is hope now he can train for the F/A-18 Hornets.
``We were really considering selling our home in June because we were so afraid there would be no aircraft for my husband to fly,'' she said.
A businessman who also has pinned his future on Oceana said he never doubted the base would pull through.
``I knew in my heart they would never take away Oceana,'' said Ed O'Hara, who owns a restaurant and dance club on General Booth Boulevard. ``There's plenty of room at Oceana for more people and planes.'' MEMO: Staff writers Chris Dinsmore, Karen Weintraub and Charlene Cason
contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
BILL TIERNAN/Staff file
Petty Officer 3rd Class Brenda Cerino helps an A-6 Intruder pilot
check systems before takeoff at Oceana. Retirement of the A-6s left
the base in peril, but now the Pentagon wants more jets there.
Graphics
WHAT'S NEXT
The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission is scheduled
to begin reviewing the Pentagon's base-closure recommendations as
early as today. The panel will conduct regional public hearings this
spring before submitting its recommendations to President Clinton by
July 1. Clinton and the Congress must accept or reject the entire
package by September or October.
A BONANZA FOR OCEANA
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
Photo
BETH BERGMAN/Staff
``I knew in my heart they would never take away Oceana,'' said Ed
O'Hara, who owns O'Hara's Legends, a restaurant and dance club on
General Booth Boulevard.
KEYWORDS: BASE CLOSINGS MILITARY BASES
by CNB