ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 2, 1997 TAG: 9702030071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Army has selected Fort Eustis as the site for a new regional transportation headquarters that will bring more than 400 jobs to the base by 2000.
The decision, which hinges on the results of an environmental study being completed this spring, ends a nearly two-year search that began after the 1995 federal base closure commission decided to shut down the Eastern and Western Commands of the Military Traffic Management Command.
``Fort Eustis is the ideal choice,'' said Sen. John Warner, R-Va., who along with Reps. Herbert Bateman, R-Newport News, and Robert "Bobby" Scott, D-Newport News, worked to land the headquarters. ``The Hampton Roads area is a unique transportation, mobilization and deployment hub.''
The command, which has a research and engineering branch in Newport News, is the Army group that launches troops and supplies forward during war and major exercises in concert with the military's air-and sealift groups. All fall under the U.S. Transportation Command, based at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
The new headquarters will manage water terminals in North America, Central America and South America; rail transportation in the continental United States; and other traffic management functions, the Army said.
The 472 jobs at the headquarters will be a mix of civilian and military positions. Officials said it was too early to determine the ratio between the two or how many local civilian positions will become available.
Current jobholders eligible to transfer, for example, might opt not to move from Bayonne, N.J., or Oakland, Calif., sites of the commands being closed.
The Army's decision depends on a National Environmental Policy Act study on potential environmental impact of the move, expected in March.
The headquarters will be located at a site currently occupied by two two-story brick barracks buildings.
The renovation work will cost an estimated $8 million. The new command should begin operations in the fall of 2000.
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