THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510200010
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Nature made Hampton Roads one of the world's great harbors, but nature alone doesn't account for the decisions by the Navy and, now, the Coast Guard to consolidate operations in our region. The manpower, infrastucture and amenities available here also argue persuasively in our favor.
Like the other services, the Coast Guard is enduring a budget squeeze. Over four years, the service is expected to cut its spending by $400 million and its manpower by 4,000 - or just over 10 percent. To do so, it's got to close down some operations and consolidate others at several selected bases.
In the latest decisions, Los Angeles and St. Louis lose and San Francisco and New Orleans win. On the East Coast, the Atlantic Area Command will leave New York Harbor for a new home in Portsmouth.
Hampton Roads will gain an estimated 600 jobs - many of them well-paid. Millions will be added to the local economy. Staff that oversees the operations of 28 ships, 21 aircraft, Loran stations and an international Ice Patrol will be located here. So will the service's Maintenance and Logistics Command that keeps East Cost operations organized and supplied.
Other ports that have hosted the armed forces have suffered in recent years, but Hampton Roads has gained. We've been lucky, but we've also been in a position to take advantage of our luck. We must continue to behave as if the Coast Guard motto were also our own - Semper Paratus, always prepared.
There's no question that Hampton Roads must make every effort to diversify its economic base to make it less reliant on a downsizing military. But the sea is our heritage and is always likely to figure prominently in the economic scheme of things for our region - from recreation and tourism to cargo-handling, shipbuilding and defense.
It's hard to imagine Hampton Roads without a huge naval presence, and it is good for the region's future that it will now be home to a larger Coast Guard contingent. It's a pleasure to welcome aboard the Atlantic Area Command. by CNB