Retired admiral: Defense cuts will affect region

A leaner defense budget may be worse for Langley than Oceana, and harder on Navy riverines than SEALs and aircraft carriers, the head of Hampton Roads' defense lobbying organization said Tuesday.

While no one can say yet how much of the region's $20 billion annual federal income might be lost from impending defense cuts, retired Rear Adm. Craig Quigley outlined specific military operations that might be in jeopardy and others that might expand as the Pentagon seeks to trim and consolidate. He also warned of long-range changes in national defense, particularly the Navy's growing focus on the Asian Pacific region rather than the Atlantic, that will affect southeast Virginia in decades to come.

"The federal presence in Hampton Roads will probably be smaller, but we're not going away," said Quigley, executive director of the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance, in a speech to the Economics Club of Hampton Roads.

Congress and the Obama administration are considering about $460 billion in defense cuts over the next decade to help deal with a large budget deficit. In addition, at least $500 billion in other defense cuts could be required under a related congressional agreement if a special House-Senate committee fails to agree on a broader deficit plan by Nov. 23.

Whether the cuts are the larger or smaller figure, Hampton Roads will not be untouched, Quigley said.

For example, the Navy's riverines, now based at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story and at Yorktown, likely will be considerably reduced, he said.

At the same time, special operations units such as the Navy SEALs based in Virginia Beach, are expected to grow or at least maintain their current strength.

"I don't see it shrinking at all," he said.

Oceana Naval Air Station is "really looking good," Quigley said. Top Navy officials have told him they're impressed with the ongoing efforts by Virginia Beach and the state to buy private property around the base to minimize further encroachment.

Oceana, which provides about 10,000 jobs, will be a strong candidate to become the East Coast home of the Navy's F-35 Joint Striker Fighters in future years, he said.

But he warned that the Air Force component of Joint Base Langley-Eustis, in Hampton, is having encroachment problems and might be a target should there be another round of base closings. The Air Force also has announced plans for thousands of civilian job cuts nationwide, including the elimination of about 500 jobs, many of them already vacant, at Langley.

NASA Langley Research Center "will feel a lot of budget pressure," Quigley said, as the federal government determines how it might use the facility.

Quigley predicted that the money shortage will force the Navy to abandon, for now, its desire to move a Norfolk-based aircraft carrier to Mayport, Fla. The relocation, expected to cost $600 million or more, would involve spending money the Navy needs for other projects, he said.

It remains unclear if the Pentagon will slow down its construction of carriers at the Newport News shipyard or change plans for ship overhauls that provide lucrative contracts for maintenance and repair firms, he said.

The Navy wants to increase its total fleet but new ships likely will have much smaller crews than today's vessels, he said.

The Coast Guard, which has its largest East Coast operation in Hampton Roads, probably won't be harmed, Quigley said, noting that the service "has a very strong support base in Congress."

One of the region's strongest attractions for the military is the close proximity of training areas, he said. "It's an incredible strength" when defense officials are considering where to place operations.

When considering offshore oil and gas drilling or wind-powered turbines, local officials have to make certain they don't jeopardize those training areas, Quigley said.

Federal officials have said they probably won't know more specific dollar figures for budget cuts within the individual services until early 2012.

Quigley expects that Hampton Roads might begin to feel the impact in the spring as the military prepares for the 2013 budget year, which begins Oct. 1.

Several states are already organizing themselves to try to preserve their military assets during the upcoming budget debate, he said.

Virginia, with its unusually large defense industry, won't get much sympathy from other parts of the country.

"Nobody feels sorry for Virginia. We're perceived to have more than our fair share," he said. "There are any number of communities who would love to pick our pockets."

Bill Bartel, (757) 446-2398, bill.bartel@pilotonline.com