THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 13, 1995 TAG: 9505120007
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
Regarding an item that appeared in your May 2 issue relating to the assignment of F/A-18 squadrons:
Local governments have long argued over the costs of moving to each location, the economic benefits to the locality and even to a minor extent about the tactical advantage of Cherry Point or Oceana. But nobody has yet really discussed the impact on the pilots and technicians who fly and maintain those aircraft.
I was stationed at ``Cheerless Point'' twice and visited the area as recently as October. The local problems are alarming: The schools are inadequate; jobs for spouses or grown children are minimum wage; there are no secondary schools or colleges for adults to continue their education; and housing is in short supply and requires either a long commute or is overpriced.
If the squadrons are at Oceana and an officer is assigned to the Armed Forces Staff College and a chief petty officer to an aircraft carrier, all they need to do is drive to work in a different direction. If they are at Cherry Point, it entails a cost to the taxpayers of a move plus the uprooting, uncertainty and expense of all those P.C.S. moves.
If you want to support F/A-18s at Oceana, do it through pointing out the best deal for the troops. Oceana deserves to win on that point alone.
JAMES R. CAMPBELL
Major, U.S. Marines (ret.)
Virginia Beach, May 4, 1995 by CNB