Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 17, 1993 TAG: 9308170122
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Newport News Daily Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
During his first visit to Hampton Roads as the Navy's top civilian, Dalton said he will wait for the release of the Pentagon's "bottom-up review" of operations and systems before taking a stand on an issue that has huge consequences for Newport News Shipbuilding. That review is expected to come out in early September, and the size of the carrier fleet will be among its recommendations.
"It's important that we have a forward presence, and it's important that we be able to fulfill our commitments around the world," Dalton said at a news conference on board the USS Austin, moored at Norfolk Naval Base. Later, he added, "I am committed to ensuring that deployments do not last longer than six months."
Navy officials have said that meeting those goals will require a fleet of at least 12 carriers. One proposal for helping trim the nation's defense budget by more than $120 billion over the next five years would be to reduce the carrier fleet to 10.
Dalton wouldn't endorse any specific force size. "I'm not prepared to make an announcement on that today," he said.
The visit by Dalton, a Naval Academy graduate and former submarine officer, was part of a whirlwind tour of naval facilities in Hampton Roads that included breakfast aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington and stops at Norfolk's Little Creek Amphibious Base and Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.
During his introductory comments, he twice mentioned Newport News Shipbuilding by name, noting that the Peninsula yard won more than $400 million in Navy contracts. "I'm confident that Newport News will continue in their fine tradition, and make the Navy proud with the contracts," he said.
Newport News Shipbuilding is the nation's only carrier builder, and officials say widespread layoffs will result if construction on what is known as CVN-76 doesn't begin in 1995. The carrier could end up competing for funding with a third Seawolf attack submarine, although a decision to build a third sub hasn't been made. The first two Seawolfs are being built by Electric Boat of Groton, Conn.
"I'm certainly concerned about the industrial base, and that we continue to build submarines and aircraft carriers in the future," Dalton said. When asked whether the Navy could afford both CVN-76 and a new Seawolf submarine, he replied, "I doubt that we would try to do each of those in the same budget year. But decisions have not been made on those issues yet."
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.