THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9511300133
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 196 lines
FOLKS IN THE COAST Guard's 5th District offices Downtown are moving and adjusting space in the Federal Building to handle the influx of an additional 164 workers who will be reassigned from Governors Island in New York City.
After an 18-month study to decide how to reduce the U.S. Coast Guard by 12 percent over four years, Portsmouth emerged as the logical site for the new East Coast center of operations.
The new people in the Downtown building will be part of the Atlantic Area and Maritime Defense Command.
The Atlantic command covers all the United States to the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico, the Great Lakes to the Caribbean.
``We looked at a number of reorganizational proposals and this one enjoys consensus,'' Rear Adm. William J. Ecker, commander of the 5th District, said in a recent interview.
Ecker, a 36-year member of the Coast Guard, was part of a study group that worked on the plan. He has been involved in it ever since he took command of the district in June 1994.
``The commandant used the flag group as a board of directors,'' he said. ``We had a number of meetings and study groups working on options. In the end, we had 20 different decisions of various kinds.
``From an effectiveness point, this (Portsmouth) is going to be good,'' Ecker said. ``It makes sense and not just from a dollar and cents view.''
Ecker said Portsmouth is ``a good midpoint location in what will be further re-engineering of the Coast Guard.''
To achieve the 12 percent budget reduction over four years, the Coast Guard is aiming at a $400 million per year reduction in costs and a total reduction in people of 4,000.
Ecker said that closing Governors Island will ``give us about $87 million toward that target and about 400 people.''
The streamlining plan also means that the West Coast area command will be combined with the district at Alameda, Calif. The 2nd District, now based in St. Louis, will be combined with the 8th District in New Orleans.
The operation in Portsmouth, Ecker said, will get ``much more of a global outlook'' than it has with only the district offices.
Among their concerns will be the drug war in the Caribbean, the Coast Guard people in Bosnia, fishing in Canada, commerce on the Great Lakes and security on the Mexican borders.
``In the beginning, they must come to grips with how they're going to devote their time. . . . They'll have to give the district its due and keep a global view at the same time,'' he said.
Ecker, facing forced retirement next June, will be relieved by a three-star admiral. He noted that ``the guy who comes here gets to do both jobs.''
``You know, the 5th district has some important responsibilities,'' he said. ``It includes the busy ports of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Wilmington and, of course, Hampton Roads. And we do a lot of other things dealing with drug smuggling, immigration, boat safety.''
All the incidents at sea from New Jersey through South Carolina come under the district.
But the infusion of new Coast Guard members will be greater than those coming to the downtown federal building.
Another 450 jobs in the offices of Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic will be transferred from New York to Hampton Roads, although not necessarily to Portsmouth.
The bids are in and the General Services Administration is evaluating them, Ecker said.
``Portsmouth is very interested but, not knowing who the competitors are, I wouldn't guess where GSA will put them,'' Ecker said. ``One of the interesting hooks though is that one of the area commander's demands was that they had to move in close proximity.''
Portsmouth officials are close-mouthed about their proposal; however, one possible location could be the City Hall building on the waterfront a few blocks from the Federal building offices. The city has talked of moving city government out of the prime location to other places.
City Hall meets all the requirements: a downtown location available by next May with 450 parking spaces within two blocks.
Meanwhile, to make room for the newcomers here, some of the current downtown workers are moving out to the Support Center on West Norfolk Road, according to Ecker. Others are just shuffling offices.
``The Navy and the Post Office are staying in the building,'' he said. ``So we are adjusting.''
The move to Portsmouth will occur in June, and the Coast Guard expects to be entirely off Governors Island by June 1997. About 1,000 people will be left in New York City. They'll move to Staten Island to a vacant Navy facility.
The streamlining process began at headquarters in Washington, D.C., almost two years ago.
``We changed completely the office structure and moved some elements, such as the personnel command, out of headquarters to the suburbs and reduced the number of units,'' Ecker said. ``We moved the finance center to this area some years ago.''
After the announcement of the closing of Governors Island, Ecker traveled to all the bases in his command from New Jersey and Philadelphia through the Carolinas to discuss the situation.
``I view the influx of additional Coast Guard people here as very positive,'' he said. ``I always tell them that.''
The greater concentration from Elizabeth City, N.C, to Yorktown will provide additional opportunities for advancement without moving, he said, thereby providing greater stability for families.
The quality of life in this area was a factor in the decision to locate here too, he said.
``This is a tremendous area to live and bring up families,'' he said. ``But some people have moved around a lot because of job availability.''
As an example of the importance of jobs within commuting distance, he noted that Capt. Norm Scurria moved to chief of staff for the 5th District after serving as commanding officer of the Elizabeth City Air Station and Capt. Richard Davidson moved up to chief of the boating safety division from another job in Elizabeth City.
To keep from uprooting their families, both joined the ranks of many who commute daily from North Carolina to jobs in Hampton Roads.
Other workers, previously assigned to Yorktown, commute from there to Portsmouth jobs.
Ecker said the Coast Guard is doing ``everything we can to relieve anxiety'' about the changes.
In fact, last Tuesday the Coast Guard Military Command met all day at the Commodore Theater to talk about re-assignments.
``If people know up front they are going to be treated fairly, then they're not disgruntled,'' he said. ``The Coast Guard is small enough to do things to minimize anxiety.''
Ecker said the Coast Guard will try to retain as many civilians as possible and do whatever it can do to get them to move.
``Obviously, there are folks who are not going to leave New York and we will help them find a place in the federal work force there,'' he said.
Ecker said he is not concerned about finding local replacements for anyone who might not choose to move because ``there's a good work force here.''
The civilians in New York must decide in January if they are coming to Hampton Roads.
Ecker said that visits by representatives from Portsmouth and other cities would help pull in some of the people.
``Several years ago, we moved a group from Brooklyn to Baltimore and more civilians than anticipated wanted to move,'' he said.
He said if the office wound up with two people in the same slot, they would try to find another position at the same level for one of them.
``We're not going to let any people here lose ground,'' he said. ``With Maintenance and Logistics coming here, people can move over at the same level.''
Portsmouth will not get any more ships out of the streamlining.
Two ships now attached to Governors Island, the Dallas and the Gallatin, will move to Charleston.
``Charleston is much closer to the Caribbean, and the Navy gave up pier space there in the recent closings,'' Ecker said.
But the Support Center at West Norfolk will get a few more people, he said, when an electronics center in New York is closed.
Within a few years, the Coast Guard will combine the air stations at Brooklyn and at Cape May and relocate them to Atlantic City to an FAA facility.
``We can do this because of technology,'' Ecker said. ``Our planes and helicopters can fly faster and farther and meet response time requirements.''
Frequently, he said, when the Coast Guard tries to close very small installations, ``Congress won't let us.''
``People don't want to lose the bases even though technology enables reductions without reducing services or response time,'' he said. ``It's hard to convince folks you're still going to be there when they need you.''
A good example is Ocracoke, which was on the initial list for consolidation but which has not been consolidated.
``In some places, we just haven't been able to either consolidate stations or downgrade them,'' he said.
In some cases, streamlining plans were run by members of congress, ``to see what is doable and what is not doable.''
``We got some good advice from congressional staffs,'' he said.
No decision has been made as to whether the 5th District designation will be retained here, he said. But Ecker said he believes it's important to keep the identity.
Whatever happens, he said, ``Portsmouth is a Coast Guard community.''
The Coast Guard even operates the Federal Building, even though the Navy and Post Office are tenants.
``That's an unusual arrangement,'' he said.
Will the city notice a difference with the changes?
``The location of 600 people here is going to make a difference in many ways, in retail trade, in real estate,'' he said. ``Yeah, we'll see an impact.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
STREAMLINED TO PORTSMOUTH
ON THE COVER
The picture on the cover shows buoys the Coast Guard uses to mark
channels. They are maintained at the Support Center. Staff
photographer Mark Mitchell took the picture.
``This is a tremendous area to live and bring up families,'' said
Rear Adm. William J. Ecker, commander of the 5th District.
Staff photos by MARK MITCHELL
Guardsman Brian Cigich checks a navigation chart aboard one of the
Coast Guard's 40-foot boats.
The Coast Guard ship ``Bear,'' at left, is tied up at the Support
Center. To make room for the newcomers here, some of the current
downtown workers are moving out to the center, on West Norfolk Road.
Others are just shuffling offices. The move to Portsmouth is
scheduled to occur in June.
by CNB