THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 9, 1995 TAG: 9508090007
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
Regarding ``Navy may close NADEP early'' (news, July 19): It is a hard fact that NADEP is closing. However, the method and the time fram will hurt us dearly. The unfortunate parts of this are many.
Foremost is that we aren't going to save money for you or me. The Navy will have a hard time flying aircraft without spare parts. Second, the mental anguish will be hard on our people whether military or civil servant.
It will be a money loser to close a repair facility that supports products such as the A-6 and F-14, which are on the downside of their life cycle, and not retire the product, too. How much money can be saved by expanding another repair site, wherever it may be?
But it is going to happen; however, why accelerate and create a gap where nobody is repairing or manufacturing? The assigned replacements aren't ready to stand up and run with our product-repair lines. We are supposed to be that safety net to keep the repair pipeline going until our replacement(s) start their repair and remanufacture lines.
When it comes to national defense, remember that saving money isn't everything.
STEPHEN D. PATCHIN
Workload planner/estimator
Naval Aviation Depot
Norfolk, July 19, 1995 by CNB