The Virginian-Pilot
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Defense officials made clear Monday they're backing the Navy's desire to relocate a Norfolk-based aircraft carrier to Mayport, Fla.
Whether the Navy is successful may come down to a nasty fight in Congress, say some Virginia legislators, who argue the military hasn't provided any solid research to justify the relocation.
"This is not a done deal," U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., said Monday. "I would be curious to see where the Navy believes that it can take a billion dollars away from shipbuilding, weapons procurement, ship maintenance and repair, and building a fleet in order to construct an alternate port which, on all accounts, doesn't seem to be needed."
The Defense Department released Monday its four-year review of defense strategy, which promotes the carrier move. The Quadrennial Defense Review declares: "To mitigate the risk of a terrorist attack, accident, or natural disaster, the U.S. Navy will homeport an East Coast carrier in Mayport, Florida."
All five nuclear carriers on the East Coast are currently based in Norfolk.
Top Navy officials have been pushing the move for a couple of years, arguing that it is dangerous to keep all the East Coast carriers in a single location.
Several Virginia members of Congress said Monday that despite the Navy's claim that Hampton Roads carries a higher risk of terrorist attack, accident or disaster, the military has not provided any classified or unclassified analysis to back their statement.
"What we have constantly come back to is the realization from almost every independent analysis that this is a poor decision by the Navy - if not a scandalous decision," said U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, R-4th District, which includes Portsmouth and Chesapeake.
Moving a carrier will be driven by "pure political clout," said Forbes, who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. "I was in the White House when President Bush looked over to the Florida delegation and said, 'We're going to get you that carrier.'... It's been carried on to this administration."
What Norfolk loses and Florida gains from a carrier move was enthusiastically explained Monday by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
"The economic impact is going to be terrific," Nelson said during a Florida media briefing. "You think about a carrier is a flagship of a carrier battle group. This then will likely enable us to have additional ships that will be homeported here.... Just the carrier itself with a half-a-billion dollars of construction, 4,000 sailors, their families and all the attendant businesses that go along with that is a huge economic shot in the arm for Jacksonville."
Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce officials have said losing a carrier would cost the region 11,000 jobs and $650 million.
Given the recession, said U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye, D-2nd District, which includes Virginia Beach and part of Norfolk, the state's delegation will press the Navy to explain how it can afford the Mayport project "particularly at a time when we've seen the administration propose the smallest pay increase for our armed forces in many decades."
Nye said he has asked the Government Accountability Office to examine the relocation effort.
The next step in the process is congressional hearings, which begin today when the defense budget and the four-year review are taken up by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Webb, who serves on the Senate panel, anticipates asking about the Mayport project, Jessica Smith, his spokeswoman, said.
Blocking movement of a carrier will be difficult, Forbes said.
"I think we keep having to pound away that this is a terrible decision and where are they gong to get the money," he said. "I think it's going to come down to raw power."
Bill Bartel, (757) 446-2398, bill.bartel@pilotonline.com
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Make a MILITARY decision; not political
In light of threats to our Navy, ie. terrorism, economic disaster, variation of sea duty locations etc., the move of a carrier to Mayport is the wise choice. Sen. Webb. surely knows this, but as usual, politics get in the way of strategic military plans. I guess that we can continue to play the political games with our military, as they are done year after year, in order to level the playing field.
Smart move!
Not only is this a smart move for National Security, Think of the economic savings to the area. Take 10-20,000 people off the roads each day and maybe we do not need to spend millions on new roads and bridges. In reality the Navy should move several more to other ports.
double edged sword
while i understand both sides of this debate, i have to say that moving one carrier to mayport will only be the beginning. To say that we shouldnt put all our eggs in one basket so to speak i definately believe is a valid point but whats to stop that from becoming 2 eggs, then maybe 3,and so on. Moving 1 carrier is not going to fix the problem of spreading out the fleet. I also think that if you want a pre-cursor of how this will effect Hampton Roads, look at what has just taken place. After the devastation in Haiti the U.S. responded by sending a great number of ships in port here to provide relief efforts, and while I understand, I can't help but notice that caused substantial layoffs of shipyard workers here, who now have no ships to work on. If those ships are gone for an extended time where does that leave workers here. I'm all for helping when it is needed, but not at the expense of our people. A carrier move to Mayport would cause the same situation but on a much grander scale. On a whole it appears to me that Fl is not feeling the affects of this Recession as hard as VA is. I believe their average household income is higher than ours to begin with.
Navy Research
The following is a summary of the Defense Departments Research concerning the placement of Navy carrier groups: "How many baskets shall we put all our eggs into, sirs?"
Proprietary
Where do people get the idea that the sole reason for a carrier's existance is to provide income for a locality? These ships belong to the Navy, NOT Virginia. I've seen that many of the people screaming about losing the Carrier Task Force and it's financial contributions to the area are the same people objecting to the in-state tuition for military dependants, tax breaks for the military, and any other amenity for the personnell.\
Financial gain must give way to military necessity. And yes, I DO remember Pearl Harbor.
VIRGINIA IS GREEDY!!!!
I've just moved from the Virginia Beach area and I'm so glade to be away from there. It only makes common sense that the fleet should be disbursed not only for security reason but also economical reasons. The Navy should have three carriers in Mayport, Florida and move the FA-18's to Beaufort, South Carolina. The Marines could move to Cherry Point, North Carolina. The Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads areas are so congestive and the roads are just horriable with all the pot holes and people driving around thinking they are in some stupid NASCAR race. You don't hear any arguments on the West Coast about ships being moved. And yes Oceana Naval Air Station is a waste. The jets should have stayed in Cecil Field which should have never been closed. Talk about the government wasting money. I was stationed in the Jacksonville area and we never had to close the bases for hurricanes or any adverse weather conditions. On the other hand in Hampton Roads area everything comes to a standstill for snow and hurricanes. The Hampton roads area has always been greedy and always getting there way. The other thing that gets me is that they say Hampton Roads area is Pro Military. Well they
"Whether the Navy is
"Whether the Navy is successful may come down to a nasty fight in Congress, say some Virginia legislators, who argue the military hasn't provided any solid research to justify the relocation."
Any solid research? Open a history book to Dec 7th, 1941!
Research
If the navy trusted their own research, they would have interpreted the radar signals of the incoming attack that awful morning. And if you did your research, you would know the carriers were deployed at sea that day.
I guess a billion dollars isn't what it used to be.
Warships
"an emergency that required the sailors to get to the base"?
Again, if there is an emergency, the warships will be out at sea, not tied to a pier in a port. Static location not good, see Pearl Harbor, December 1941.
losing the carrier to Mayport
The government wants to do this at a time when the economy is bad, and the national budget is overdrawn. A shipyard will have to be built there. Virginia has problems with snow and rain. But Florida has to be on the lookout for hurricanes. Nothing is perfect. But Virginia is located in the middle of the coast whereas Florida is not that well-located.