After admiral's talk of carrier move, Navy reaffirms plan

and all the associated superhornets with it.

TR not sure what coherent direction your trying to take your argument however, I have spent the last 8 years watching “the hate the military groupies” in action (Kerry, Murtha, Reid etc..). They’d been dormant since Vietnam; however, they’ve managed to crawl from under the rug when the Iraq War started. Nye a democrat has no creditably hasn’t been in office long enough plus he belongs the party that denigrated the military for the past 8 years. Nye and the rest of the democrats need to keep their dirty little fingers out of the military’s business they’ve done enough damage. Let the NAVY decide their own strategic interests (without politics) as it benefits the country. Last time I’ve checked the US has never tortured prisoners even these detainees! My point TR is the enemy, some of which are now prisoners have no problem cutting off American military POW’s heads. I believe we can spill a little water up their noses especially if it helps to end the war. And if you believe water boarding is torture then you are clueless.

As much as I disdain Nye, he is doing what any rep from any area is supposed to do, ensure that his/her area receives as much as it can get. If that means fighting to keep military assets, so be it. Regardless of whether the ship moves or not, Nye is doing what he is supposed to do.

That said, the recent financial mess ought to provide some insight. The mantra of "too big to fail" describes AIG and some other entities that we are now spending caj-illions on to keep afloat. We might not have this problem if the assets of AIG had been dispersed to begin with. I think that is a valid analogy for the homeporting issues. As others have rightly pointed out, it doesn't make sense and flies in the face of lessons learned the hard way to keep 'all one's eggs in one basket'. The Navy had a good homeporting strategy that was a causalty of BRAC in the early 90s'. BRAC has done far more damage than good to the nation, and the supposed savings are anything but. But dispersal of military assets is a good idea strategically and politically..

business telling the military how to protect this country than they have telling banks who to lend money to.

I agree with the Navy to send one of the carriers to Mayport. This makes perfect strategic sense. However in the eyes of Representative Nye, it doesn't make economic sense. I realize that it will cost some money to make Mayport capable of servicing the nuclear power plant and support the personnel, but that is actuall a positive. We need more than one maintenance stop for carriers just like Norfolk needs more than one service station for cars. Another positive is that the preparations will give some stimulation to the people in that area. It may not be our area but it is still helping out our economy. I understand that Nye needs to be go through another election next year but he also needs to see the big picture. This isn't just about Virginia and the Tidwater area but about national security and I believe that is what the US Navy is thinking about and I support them in this decision.

Navy is moving it for security and logistic reasons. No one has input into that for jobs, income, or any other reason. Have you noticed all the conflict overseas.....we need to be prepared to defend ourselves God forbid we are attacked and we have all our eggs in one basket.

Whenever the Pilot prints a story about the Bush homeport options they report that our area will lose jobs and money, as if we already have a claim to the ship. The ship has not been assigned a homeport and until it is, no city should expect the potential increase in jobs that will be required to support the carrier. As to where it should be located, politics should not interfere with an informed Navy decision. Why Mayport? An alternate location capable of handling air craft carriers would be a positive should something tragic happen here. The resurgence of Russia navy ships receiving invitations into Cuba and Venezuela could be one of the factors considered. Personally, I would move an entire carrier task force and at least one Expeditionary Task Group to Florida to be available to counter emerging threats in the Caribbean.

The PREZs plan is to spend a trillion dollars to save the economy so I see no problem in the Military spending millions, especially since this money would be spent on US Labor to build the facilities...

It would be great, economically speaking, to keep this ship here but what about the "military aspects" of moving this ship south?

Haven't we learned our lessons from other wars about keeping all of our military assets in one area?

It's a hard pill to swallow but maybe Norfolk should look at the "BIG PICTURE" here not the monies.

Norfolk is a great city but there's more at stake here than money.

Toddler Sniffle Snort Nye couldn't fight his way out of wet toilet tissue. This story is nothing short of an endorsement of this democratic rubber stamp to try to make him look good. Come on Nye, "he said but she said" is big news along with that stupid "I'm really doin biddness look"? How about growing up and deliver facts not ifs, maybes, buts, ands or jelly beans. When is Nyes term up? Can't be soon enough...

Well, Ok. I say we give Mayport the ENTIRE James River Reserve Fleet.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/James_River_Reserve_Fleet_source.jpg

"... hate the military groupies!"

Nye (a VA politician! home to largest naval base in the world!!) is angling to KEEP a carrier in town. And somehow you are in the weeds with your "hate the military" prattle once again. Your logic-defying logic is both painful and humorous at the same time. Its oddly comparable to your "we cant stop torturing the gitmo detainees because they torture and kill" tour de farce.

Mayport is nicer anyways........good on the Navy!!!

As some of you folks have pointed out, there's really no reason to move the ships now. Do we really need to spend all this money while our country and the world is in a financial tail spin? The Navy just wants more money in their budget. Think about the country first, then think about spending billions of dollars when you don't need to.

Maybe the Navy is sees the blue tide rolling over the state and wants to get out before the blue tide brings all its hate the military groupies!

History proves we're going to need more soon. We seem to downsize, then spend a ton re-building, then downsize, then re-build. Let's just build more carriers and place a token one in Florida (despite being farther away from the Mediterranean). But since we're in the midst of the most incredibly reckless national debt plan in history why not waste more money upgrading what is currently not needed at the worst time for our national budget . Can't wait until we get the fiscal conservatives back in control to as always fix the financial and social mess made by the Libs.....Shoot why not send the shipyards down there too while they're at it. And Glenn Nye, he sounds too much like an inexperienced whiner.

If anyone wants to move to Florida and live there have at it! But leave the carriers here. Hampton Roads has the facilities to maintain nuclear carriers and Mayport does not. I do not want to spend $1 Billion to upgrade a very small port area for just one carrier. Have you ever been there? I was stationed there on a carrier and there is nothing there. The base is very small and they would have to upgrade all of the facilities to handle the increase in traffic, the crew, and families. So $1 Billion may be low. There are a lot of hidden costs in this move.
If the carriers are rarely here, why do we want to multi-home port them?
Also, if they need nuclear maintenance, they are back here in the shipyards in guess where? Hampton Roads. There are no shipyards down in Mayport or nearby to handle a nuclear carrier.
This is a purely political move on the Navy's part. I am very disappointed in the Navy's leadership. There comes a point where we can't build-build-build; we need to conserve our present resources.
The other whiners need to get orders out of here and stop complaining about the Hampton Roads area. If you don't like it, get out! Then there will be less traffic on the roads.

Norfolk is just being greedy and wants everything for themselves. We heard it down here in Charleston, SC when BRAC closed us down here back around 1993, and the mayor of Portsmouth said that we should be gratefull for the carrot we were given in the form of SPAWAR staying here.

And those that mention the traffic mess !!! That is one of the big reasons I do not miss living in the Tidewater area any more. Even though I was born and raised there going to Star of the Sea catholic elementary, Heritage Elementary, Bayside HS and finally graduating from Princess Anne. The only way I would even think about living back in the area was if I did not have to work at all and put up with the traffic mess that is there.

Hampton Roads needs to get off this self centered mind set about everything needs to be in Norfolk or Tidewater area. This is the world largest Navy base with one of the more restrictive navigation details to enter it. How easy would it be to bottle neck the fleet into Hampton roads.
They did it in the civil war, a blockade. In 1956 Egypt sank ship's in the Suez and for a year that major passage of the world blocked. It was also blocked for 8 years from June 1967 to May 1975… It's about the security of the US and to do that you must have a secure and mobile arm forces that can flex at a moments notice. If something as crazy as that would happen, you would see the fleet anchored off of Virginia Beach, with boats and helos ferrying personnel and stores to the ships. I’m sure the tourist would love that. Take off the blinders, There is a major need to disburse the fleets major assets. .

"No one wants another Pearl Harbor, where are the ships are in one place, etc..."
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These ships are almost NEVER all in port at the same time. I'm tired of this "catastrophe" scenario. This is just a political maneuver for economic development. It's too costly and the reasons are just lame.

Even the Navy is disingenuous. What natural disaster could the carriers face? A hurricane? Heck, they take the ships out to sea when a hurricane is coming!

Nye, you better keep on it. You keep that carrier here and your chances of reelection will be a LOT better.