THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996                 TAG: 9607120468
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A12  EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER 
                                            LENGTH:   44 lines

MILITARY CLEARS OUT BY SEA AND BY AIR

The Air Force moved its Hampton-based F-15 Eagle fighters out of harm's way Thursday, flying 31 of the jets to Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana as Hurricane Bertha continued its crawl toward the East Coast.

The Coast Guard moved its Portsmouth-based fleet to safe havens in nearby waterways.

But the Navy had not decided late in the day whether to evacuate planes and helicopters it could not protect in local hangars, saying it would await further information on the storm's track.

Staff Sgt. Steve Marciniak said Langley Air Force Base dispatched its F-15s early in the day, along with six C-21 Learjets that headed for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.

``We assessed the entire situation, and it was decided that the potential risks of wind and flood damage warranted flying them out,'' said Marciniak, a Langley spokesman.

Across Hampton Roads, 10 of the Coast Guard's largest Portsmouth-based ships have moved to safety in tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. The cutters and buoy tenders were sent to anchorages in the James, York, Rappahannock and Potomac rivers and off Bloodsworth Island in the upper Chesapeake Bay.

The Coast Guard at Elizabeth City flew three of its C-130 aircraft and two H-60 helicopters to Charleston, W.Va. One C-130 and one helicopter remained in Elizabeth City in hangars.

The Navy, meanwhile, had hangared as many planes as it had room for in Norfolk by late Thursday afternoon. The Navy said it would not move 11 helicopters and 14 planes left without shelter unless the service decided that destructive winds were likely within 24 hours.

``We're just waiting to see what happens,'' said Mike Maus, Atlantic Fleet Naval Air Force spokesman. ``Personnel don't want to go unless they have to.''

Air crews at Oceana Naval Air Station flew all day Thursday, and there were no plans to hangar the station's 78 F-14 Tomcats until today, if at all, said Troy Snead, an Oceana spokesman.

Portsmouth Naval Medical Center canceled all elective surgeries and routine appointments for today at the naval hospital and branch clinics in the area. The emergency rooms will remain open today.

KEYWORDS: HURRICANE BERTHA PREPARATIONS U.S.

MILITARY by CNB