THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 17, 1995 TAG: 9510170264
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL SIZEMORE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
The most sweeping Coast Guard reorganization in decades will bring 600 new military and civilian jobs to Hampton Roads.
Rear Adm. William J. Ecker, commander of the Portsmouth-based 5th Coast Guard District, is scheduled to announce the plan in a news conference this morning.
The plan amounts to one of the biggest infusions of new jobs announced this year for South Hampton Roads, where the reorganization is being seen as a major economic boost. The move involves a net increase of 400 military and 200 civilian jobs.
The reorganization will save taxpayers $80 million a year, the Coast Guard says. It is part of a five-year budget-reduction strategy that is projected to achieve $400 million in savings and reduce the Coast Guard's work force by 4,000.
The plan, the result of an 18-month study, is designed to centralize, consolidate and eliminate redundancy in Coast Guard operations.
Hampton Roads will benefit primarily at the expense of the Coast Guard operation at Governor's Island, N.Y., which will be closed.
The Atlantic Area and Maritime Defense Command, which oversees all Coast Guard operations in the eastern United States, will relocate from Governor's Island and merge with the 5th District command in Portsmouth.
That means the three-star admiral in Portsmouth will now wear two hats - as commander of the 5th District and of the entire Atlantic command.
The Atlantic command is responsible for an area encompassing 40 states from Maine to New Mexico and more than 5 million square miles of ocean, inland waterways and tributaries.
Moving the command staff will mean a net increase of 164 jobs - 150 military and 14 civilian - at Coast Guard headquarters in the Portsmouth Federal Building. Those making the move will be mostly mid- and senior-level personnel, said Lt. Nona Smith, public affairs officer for the 5th District.
She said the move is scheduled to be completed by June 1.
In addition, the Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic, the Coast Guard's East Coast supplier of support and services, will also move from Governor's Island to Hampton Roads.
That move will involve 261 military and 188 civilian jobs.
The General Services Administration is still looking for a place to house that operation, Smith said. It won't necessarily be in Portsmouth, she added; the search encompasses all South Hampton Roads cities.
There will be no change in the number of vessels or aircraft based in Hampton Roads, Smith said.
``It sounds like extremely good news, not only for Portsmouth, but for the entire Hampton Roads region,'' said Matthew James, director of economic development for Portsmouth. ``Any time we have a net influx of jobs it provides a boost to the region's economy.''
The relocation is expected to have little, if any, impact on the nearby Elizabeth City Coast Guard base and air station, said Chief Petty Officer Tom Gillespie, a spokesman at 5th District headquarters.
But Gillespie also said a Coast Guard air station in Brooklyn, N.Y., not far from the Governor's Island facility, may eventually be consolidated with another Coast Guard base.
Other highlights of the reorganization plan:
A ``performance technology center'' will be established at the Yorktown Reserve Training Center to enhance the use of new technology in the training system. A spokesman at Yorktown said the move is an internal reorganization that is not expected to affect the center's staffing level.
Coast Guard headquarters in Washington will reduce its staff by about 300 and relocate another 300 to field units.
The 2nd Coast Guard District, headquartered in St. Louis, will merge with the 8th District in New Orleans and be based there.
The Pacific Area and Maritime Defense Command, which oversees Coast Guard operations in the West, will relocate and merge in Alameda, Calif., with the 11th District, now based in Long Beach, Calif.
Two high-endurance cutters based at Governor's Island will relocate to Charleston, S.C.
``Centers of excellence'' will be created to consolidate the management of electronics centers and the administration of civilian and military personnel. A Leadership and Quality Management Center will be created at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.
KEYWORDS: U.S. COAST GUARD by CNB