
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 22, 1993                   TAG: 9305230004
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

FORTS LEE, MONROE, SHIPYARD ON HIT LIST

State officials said they would fight to prevent the closure of two Virginia Army bases and a Navy shipyard added Thursday to an independent commission's list of possible military base closings.

The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission placed Fort Lee near Petersburg, Fort Monroe near Hampton and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth on the list, but the panel stressed that the action is preliminary and only means those bases will be reviewed as possible candidates for closing.

"I just can't contemplate that this degree of devastation would be visited upon one state," Gov. Douglas Wilder said. "It would bring havoc to our economy and would disproportionately affect us."

Both Virginia senators serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and three of the state's congressmen are on the House Armed Services Committee. Wilder said he would urge the congressional delegation to use its clout to keep the bases open.

U.S. Sen. John Warner emphasized that the addition of the bases to the list "is a very preliminary step and nothing is cast in stone."

The addition of Fort Lee to the list came four days after the installation was named the best Army facility in the world in the Defense Department's Communities of Excellence Award program.

by CNB