THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 11, 1995 TAG: 9501110443
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
Workers at Norfolk Naval Aviation Depot, who fought a losing battle to save the installation in 1993, face a double whammy this year: The Florida depot where hundreds of them are finding work may be the next to fall.
At least 61 employees of the Norfolk depot already have moved to the Naval Aviation Depot in Jacksonville, where their jobs repairing F-14 Tomcat fighter planes were transferred in the military downsizing.
In all, 368 jobs are available at Jacksonville for Norfolk defense workers.
But how long they'll remain available is in question, now that sources in Congress say Navy analysts are recommending shutting the Florida depot during the 1995 round of base closings.
If others up the line sign off on the recommendation, closing Jacksonville would cut both ways for Norfolk workers - lost opportunity for some, but at the same time, new hope for continued activity at the Norfolk depot, one local congressman has said.
``There is a lot of concern,'' said Gary Royse, chairman of the Norfolk NADEP Employee Committee. ``We are not getting our hopes up, because we are still on the (base) closure list.''
The Norfolk depot now employs about 3,100 people, down from more than 4,000 before the 1993 closing decision began sending its work on F-14s and other planes elsewhere.
Royse said he cannot verify whether Jacksonville is on the list of recommendations that analysts have made to top Navy officials. He has asked for an explanation from U.S. Rep. Owen B. Pickett, a Democrat who represents parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
``Nothing has changed for us. But, yes, this has a lot of us concerned,'' Royse said.
One of Jacksonville's representatives in Congress said she believes the Jacksonville installation is safe.
``We feel comfortable that the Navy is not recommending our NADEP,'' said Susan Pelter, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Tillie Fowler, R-Fla. ``These kinds of stories are going to come out two or three times a week.''
The Navy is guarding the list's contents until March 1, when recommendations from all service branches will be forwarded to Defense Secretary William J. Perry.
But sources in Congress who claim they viewed the list said Monday the Jacksonville installation is on it.
Officials at the Norfolk depot had no comment.
The list, compiled by the Navy's Base Structure Evaluation Committee, was sent to Navy Secretary John H. Dalton late last week, but has not been made public. Perry also has been provided a copy as a courtesy.
Dalton's office still has an opportunity to alter the list before it is sent to the Department of Defense.
The Navy operates six aviation depots throughout the country. It was ordered by the 1993 base-closing commission to shut three of them - at Norfolk; Pensacola, Fla.; and Alameda, Calif.
Remaining are depots at Jacksonville; Cherry Point, N.C.; and North Island at Coronado, Calif.
With a dwindling number of airplanes, the Navy and the Pentagon still must address the question of excess repair capacity. What they'll recommend to the 1995 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission is being decided now, but many ideas have surfaced during the process. Among them:
A single depot at Ogden, Utah, for all Navy airplanes, and another at Corpus Christi, Texas, for helicopters.
Establishing smaller ``regional maintenance centers'' in areas of major naval concentration, such as Norfolk. Such centers might be attached to shipyards, but could perform aircraft maintenance as well.
Another alternative, if Jacksonville is closed, is leaving the F-14 work at Norfolk, Pickett has said. He contends that keeping the work close to the Norfolk-based Atlantic Fleet would be the most economical answer.
The two-seat carrier-based jet is the Navy's most sophisticated fighter, but is no longer being built and is scheduled to leave the fleet after the turn of the century.
Keeping it in the air has been the responsibility of the depots. MEMO: Staff writer Dale Eisman contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Graphics
NORFOLK: Norfolk Naval Aviation Depot is scheduled to close by
September 1996, and hundreds of Norfolk workers are hoping for jobs
at the Jacksonville depot.
JACKSONVILLE: Now, with the next round of base closings about to get
under way, the Jacksonville installation has learned it may be a
target.
THE WORK: Repair work on F-14 Tomcats was being moved to
Jacksonville. Other alternatives - including a single repair center
in Utah - now are being considered.
SCHEDULE
Here is a schedule for the 1995 round of military base-closings,
the fourth and final round scheduled:
January 1995: President appoints new members of the Defense Base
Closure and Realignment Commission.
Jan. 18: Service chiefs submit recommendations to secretaries of
the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Feb. 15: Service secretaries submit recommendations to secretary
of defense.
March 15: Defense secretary submits base-closure recommendations
to the new commission.
March 15-June 1: Commission holds hearings.
June 1: Commission submits its report to the president.
Three Navy installations in Hampton Roads were ordered shut or
relocated by the 1993 commission: Norfolk Naval Aviation Depot,
Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Suffolk and Naval Electronics
Engineering Center in Portsmouth.
KEYWORDS: BASE CLOSINGS U.S. NAVY by CNB