Saturday, May 14, 2005

A sampling of BRAC reactions in the press As one would expect, the coverage in newspapers varies wildly depending on whether the area was a 'winner' or 'loser'.  Plenty of non-sensical statements of outrage from politicians, etc. Starting from my current location: Jacksonville.  Huge front page headline accompanied the story, Jacksonville big base winner.  With two frigates slated to come to Mayport and five P-3 squadrons to come to NAS Jacksonville, the outcome was about as good as possible for the area.  Happines abounds. Of course, there is unhappiness in Maine: Maine takes big hit and 'Plan makes no sense' (Portland Press-Herald) Here are some choice quotes: "Obviously, this is a stunning and devastating decision," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. "It is a very unwarranted loss and flies in the face of reason, logic, strategic value, and it certainly is a blunder of epic proportions, nothing short of a travesty." ... Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine and a member of the Armed Services Committee, argued that the decisions didn't follow the Pentagon's own priorities. Portsmouth is the most-efficient submarine yard, Brunswick's geographic location can't be duplicated Yes, the geographic location is unique, but does it provide any military value?  It did during the cold war, but not now and not at anytime in the forseeable future.  On balance, the location is a negative due to the weather.  When my father was stationed there, the runway was closed six hours every night during the winter.  Jacksonville has an operational availability that is  very near 24/7/365. Ralph Dean, a retired Navy captain who has served on the volunteer Brunswick Naval Air Station Task Force - a group that formed two years ago to make a case to the Pentagon that BNAS should remain open - said the base can play a vital role in maritime surveillance and in ensuring that no weapons of mass destruction are smuggled into the heavily populated cities and ports of the Northeast. P-3s are not currently performing that role.  If in the future, P-3s are expected to do so, a squadron (or more) can be returned to Brunswick. That''s the point of maintaining the facility. Of course there is much unhappiness in Connecticut: State lawmakers vow to fight for Groton site (New Haven Register) (again, selected quotes) "Having an operational base very close to the facility that develops and builds submarines is extremely important because operations, and the people that operate submarines, are very intimately connected with building the submarines that they have to operate in times of war," Hunter said. "From a national security standpoint, I think it’s important to keep that base open." Gee, I guess we should build a Naval Air Station in St Louis (home to the factory that builds F/A-18s) then and not have bases in silly places like Virginia Beach and California (where they are close to  the fleet).  ""We have to reach out to the members of the BRAC Committee and carry our case to them," Lieberman said. "We have to show them it’s not only a blow to Connecticut, but also to the nation’s security."" I have really grown tired of the 'national security' argument used for defending keeping a particular base open.  It would have some play if we were cutting the submarines from the budget as well.  But, of course, that is not the case.  They will just be operating from other places (Norfolk and Kings Bay). Pascagoula's newspaper has a surprisingly level-headed story on their potential loss:  Homeport on chopping block (Mississippi Times) PASCAGOULA -- In a move that was expected by many Jackson County officials, the Department of Defense announced Friday that it was recommending closing Naval Station Pascagoula and transferring the frigates USS John L. Hall and Stephen W. Groves to Naval Station Mayport, Fla... While Florida was a winner in general the Pensacola area does have some potential losses as officer training may be moved to Rhode Island and the Center for Naval Education and Training may be moved to Millington.  Both are moves to consolidate similar functions in one location.  Cuts target 1,759 jobs (Pensacola News Journal).   Predictably, Senator Nelson called the cuts 'short-sighted'.  If I can stomach it, I will provide some commentary on  the national media's coverage of  base closings. Military comment []12:48:48 PM   trackback []