THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 1, 1997 TAG: 9702010287
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 36 lines
The Army will relocate the U.S. headquarters of a key transportation operation to Fort Eustis in Newport News, adding 472 civilian and military jobs to the area's work force, local congressional representatives announced Friday.
The Military Traffic Management Command oversees military water terminals in North and South America, and manages both the Defense Freight Railway Interchange Fleet and a variety of traffic management functions in the Americas.
The move consolidates regional offices from the Bayonne Military Ocean Terminal in New Jersey and the Oakland Army Base in California. Those facilities were ordered closed by the 1995 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.
Fort Eustis already is home to the Army's transportation school, which each year trains more than 14,000 uniformed personnel and Defense Department civilians in the service's transportation operations.
The presence of major Air Force and Navy commands, and the headquarters of U.S. Atlantic Command in the area, influenced the choice, the Army suggested.
``The relocation . . . into an area that already possesses a number of transportation-related activities, as well as joint and service military commands, is not only logical, but operationally sound and cost effective,'' U.S. Rep. Herbert H. Bateman of Newport News said.
``The selection of Fort Eustis marks the culmination of a major campaign that began many months ago,'' agreed U.S. Rep. Robert C. Scott, a Newport News Democrat whose district includes the base.
Scott said that lobbying by the area's congressional delegation, local officials and business leaders convinced the Army that Fort Eustis was the best site for the command.