Sub base’s cherished history couldn’t salvage its value

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Subject: Sub base’s cherished history couldn’t salvage its value

 
Sub base’s cherished history couldn’t salvage its value


By Gordon Trowbridge
NavyTimes staff writer
30 May 2005 Issue


Ending nearly a century of Navy history in New London, Conn., is the only logical solution to dealing with a shrinking submarine fleet, Navy officials told the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission May 17, defending one of the most controversial recommendations in the Pentagon’s massive plan to overhaul domestic bases. With much of Connecticut’s congressional delegation on hand and vowing to fight the move, the nine-member commission that will pass the first judgment on base closings questioned Navy officials closely on a plan that would move more than a dozen nuclear attack submarines to other bases on the Atlantic coast.

The move would cost New England more than 8,400 military and civilian jobs, and close a base that has housed submarines since 1915. “New London is a perfect example to raise when we talk about very difficult choices. We have a heritage in New London,” said Adm. Vern Clark, chief of naval operations. But an attack sub fleet that once numbered nearly 100 has now shrunk by nearly half, and may shrink more, Clark said. Eliminating the leftover port capacity could save hundreds of millions of dollars a year, he said.

And the Navy’s calculations ranked New London 14th in military value out of 16 bases for the Navy’s surface and submarine fleet, well below bases in Norfolk, Va., and Kings Bay, Ga., Navy officials said. Outside the hearing, Connecticut’s senators, Democrats Joseph Lieberman and Christopher Dodd, said they will dispute the Navy’s findings.

They are likely to have help from other members of Congress, including Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who already has said he opposes closing New London. Commissioners questioned Clark and Navy Secretary Gordon England on several topics.

The Pacific Rim and Asia, which Clark said weighed on several decisions, including the plan to close Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine. The Navy’s shrinking fleet has left excess capacity, Clark said, and Pacific shipyards have greater value to the Pentagon’s long-term military goals, he said. “We believe the Pacific is of great strategic value.

That certainly did color my thinking,” he said.

• Naval Air Station Oceana, Va., which has been seen as vulnerable in this and previous base closing rounds. Clark said closing Oceana was seriously considered, and that he and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper discussed the possibility of moving the base’s aircraft to several Air Force installations, including Moody Air Force Base, Ga., and even Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., which is on the closing list. But the only available solutions would have moved aircraft too far from the coast or cost too much money, he said.
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Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)