Local panel wants justifications for carrier move

A panel of Hampton Roads congressmen, elected state and city leaders, and retired military officers sent a letter to top Navy officials Tuesday asking pointed questions about plans to move an aircraft carrier from Norfolk to Mayport, Fla.

As part of its search for a way to block the Navy's plans, the Hampton Roads Military Affairs Commission asked that the Navy provide "a business-like analysis that objectively addresses the financial and operational tradeoffs of this proposal, as well as the threat assessment that warrants such an undertaking."

The letter was addressed to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations.

Navy and Defense Department officials have said a nuclear-powered carrier needs to be relocated to Mayport because of concerns about a possible terrorist attack or man-made or natural disasters in Norfolk - the only aircraft-carrier homeport on the East Coast.

Virginia's congressmen and other opponents have said the Navy has failed to offer any deep analysis that justifies those concerns.

"The bottom line is that the Navy has not made the case for spending over $1 billion to create a redundant East Coast carrier homeport, and there are far more questions than answers about this proposal," U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye said in a news release.

Nye organized and leads the commission, whose members indicated last week that one strategy for blocking the move may be demonstrating that the actual cost of moving a carrier is much higher than the Navy's $500 million-plus estimate.