Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502270065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: VIRGINIA EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium
``If consolidation means moving it to another area, that's terrible,'' said Del. Alan Diamonstein, a Democrat who represents the next-door city of Newport News. ``But this is just the first step. The war is not lost.''
Del. Philip Hamilton, R-Newport News, said Fort Eustis, home of the Army's 7th Transportation Group, should be a hub for consolidation instead of getting smaller.
``It's disappointing but not necessarily surprising,'' Hamilton said of the list reported by The New York Times. ``I think it's unfortunate, because Fort Eustis has a lot of things that could be consolidated to it.''
Pentagon officials emphasized that the draft is not final and Defense Secretary William Perry can make changes before releasing the list Tuesday.
The list doesn't indicate what, if anything, might be taken from the 8,200-acre post, which also oversees the much smaller Fort Story in Virginia Beach.
Fort Eustis is home to approximately 15,000 soldiers and trainees and more than 4,000 civilian workers.
Its location on the James River makes it an ideal training center for tugboat operators and cargo handlers who are among the first Army support personnel to deploy and the last to come home when ground troops are sent to crisis situations overseas.
The group has been called on to send soldiers to virtually every world trouble spot in recent years, from Saudi Arabia to Haiti to Somalia.
The annual payroll is about $330 million.
The fort's history dates to colonial times, when it was known as Mulberry Island. It was the home of John Rolfe, the colonist who married Pocahontas.
The Army bought the land in March 1918, shortly after the United States entered World War I, and named it for Brig. Gen. Abraham Eustis, the first commanding officer of nearby Fort Monroe in Hampton.
During Prohibition, the post served as a prison for bootleggers.
by CNB