NORFOLK
They're finding plenty of things to disagree on, but U.S. Senate candidates Jim Gilmore and Mark Warner appear equally prepared to back the Navy's controversial bid to build a new landing field in southeastern Virginia despite the objections of nearby residents.
"I'm with the Navy on this. I understand what they need," Republican nominee Jim Gilmore said Thursday. "If the Navy tells us they have to have a facility for training people to land on aircraft carriers... I think that has to be accommodated in the national interest."
Gilmore's comments in an interview with Virginian-Pilot editors and reporters closely tracked Warner's remarks in a similar session last month. Both men said they would try to accommodate local objections to the proposed outlying landing field, or OLF, including seeking an alternative site, but left open the possibility of imposing it on an unhappy community.
The Navy is studying five sites - three in Virginia and two in North Carolina - as potential locations for the $250 million project. The Virginia sites are in Sussex, Southampton and Surry counties; the Carolina sites are in Gates, Camden and Currituck counties.
The service says the field is needed to give its fighter pilots an isolated location to practice nighttime carrier landings. Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, the Navy's East Coast master jet base, is surrounded by well-lighted subdivisions and shopping centers that interfere with such training, Navy officials have said.
Residents in all the localities involved have joined forces to oppose the Navy plan. The Navy and state authorities have said they're open to offering tax breaks and other compensation to communities disrupted by the field.
Gilmore said he met with opponents last week and pledged to work as a senator to attempt to address their concerns. He accused Democratic nominee Warner of ducking the opponents.
But Tony Clark, chairman of Virginians Against the Outlying Landing Field, a group leading the opposition, said Warner is set to meet with him and other opponents today.
"We had some challenges" in arranging a face-to-face session with each of the candidates, Clark said. It took several calls to set up last week's meeting with Gilmore and about the same effort to schedule today's session with Warner, he added.
From his perspective as a Southampton County resident, Clark added, there's nothing the Navy, the state or the federal government can do to make the field a desirable neighbor.
"It's not a monetary issue," he said. "You cannot financially compensate somebody for taking away something they don't want to lose at any price."
Dale Eisman, (703) 913-9872, dale.eisman@pilotonline.com
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Humm. .
Actually, it's not a question of complaining about noise. You buy in at accepting 65db sound levels, and then that jumps up to 75>db because Bush's puppet Thelma Drake gets too many squadrons of FA-18 super-hornets, and you have definitely the right to sue and win. It happened already, and BRAC is watching all of this. Eventually the skies will be quiet, free of noise pollution and calm.
Do not advocate an extention of time at sea
and not having this 2nd OLF will not increase a sailors time at sea. The pilots have to be qualified at the OLF site before the carrier gets underway to attempt to qualify on the carrier itself. So no increase in overall deployment scheduled based on FCLP practices.
Back to the ex Governors. They helped create this mess as Governors. This encroachment has been happening since before 1976. 1976 is when VA BCH approved or opened Lynnhaven Mall against the wishes of the Navy. That kind of encroachment is incompatible to pilot training, it ruins the darkness and must be fixed. Close Lynnhaven Mall and any incompatible development. Navy should be doing that right now for its MJB. Fix Oceana. Fair is fair, our pilots deserve it. Right? If Oceana is now magically viable and nolonger terrible, then fly more than 5 FCLP night operations at Oceana. use Oceana as a backup OLF, like it is suppose to be used.
NAS Oceana
Lets get this straight NAS Oceana is not an OLF (Out Laying Field), NAS Oceana is a Master Jet Base. Fentress is the OLF to NAS Oceana. I have been in the Navy for 14 years, stationed in Norfolk and Virgina Beach for close to 10 years. NAS Oceana was established when 90 percent of the abbutting land was farmland back in the 1960's. If you have purchased a home within the area surrounding the base, that is your fault, you should have done your research before making your purchase. HELLO! The base is huge, it should have been obvious that it was there, and with the base come the aircraft and the noise. You have no right to say anything when you have been so blind and have put yourself in the very situation you complain about. The Navy did not force you to build or purchase your home within the areas the aircrfat operate. But, the easy answer to the situation according to some of you, is to increase the time the Atlantic fleet ca
Back to what I said earlier. .
This is all a moot point. The JSF (F35) is going to be in Cecil
Field this year, and it will NOT be stationed at Oceana so the days of Oceana are numbered. When JSF comes 100% online Oceana is done.
Summer Pulse 2004 had the Navy surging 4 carriers
They did it in 2004 utilizing the FRP as the model. FRP been around since 2003 timeframe. So the Navy surged 4 Atlantic Fleet carriers without this 2nd OLF, how did they do it? They used existing assets. The Navy is now saying that the encroachment which caused 2005 BRAC to say Oceana is not the future of naval aviation is managable. You accomplised a 4 carrier surge without this OLF, and now the encroachment is such that you should now be able to utilize Oceana to its fullest, if we are to believe you. Navy, five night FCLP operations is not a proper utilization of a site, do you agree?
Navy, please drop this OLF as you have proven time and time again that you do not require this. The assets on the East Coast can do the job of training our pilots. Release the 5 new sites and allow them to move forward with their lives. If Oceana cannot function as an OLF, then the encroachment is NOT managable. So which is it N
Agree With NCguy
I really wish people would use some deductive reasoning here. Our opposition to an OLF in northeastern NC is not about bashing our Navy. But the leadership of our Navy, and it pains me to say this, is POLITICALLY DRIVEN. We must be mindful of this fact. Not everything the brass tells you they "need" is truly a need. The Navy's own Environmental Impact Statement projects only FIVE nighttime touch and go operations to be conducted PER YEAR at Oceana. FIVE. At the same time, they are projecting more than THIRTY THOUSAND nighttime touch and go operations to be conducted at Fentress if a new OLF is not constructed. This is the "data" they are using to say that Fentress is over capacity. Fentress is NOT over capacity if they use the available capacity they have at Oceana. The reason they don't want to use this available capacity at Oceana? Noise. That's why. They know the folks in Va. Beach will scream to
They have proven a need? Really? Where is the data?
Folks love to throw around the statement if they need it, the Navy should have it. Has the Navy proven this need? NO. The Navy says the encroachment around Oceana is now manageable. Does this mean Oceana can fly and train our pilots properly? If Oceana is now a viable MJB, the pilots now have a field that can perform more then 5 FCLP operations for the entire year from 10pm to 7am (a Navy number).
No, the Navy does not need another OLF, they just need to fly from the assets they have. That is the smart thing to do.
VA will soon have two senators that will sell their souls to keep our pilots at a field that cannot perform the mission properly. Is that smart?
Yet a community who does not wish this will be gone. This will be terrible.
Amen Govenors!
I pray we don't have to get drawn into the Georgian/Russian conflict but my gut feeling is disquieted. World conflicts so no indication of lessening.
As long as we put our brave "human" pilots in those jets I say give the USN 2 new OLFs if they need it.
Why bother??
All this pandering to the Navy is only because there is much of it here. Being a business man, I'm surprised Warner is behind this as business 101 is don't throw good money after bad. So when BRAC comes back again and relocates the jets to say Cecil Field, the $250K would help move the jets.