Anthony J. Principi, BRAC Commission chairman

WASHINGTON — Virginia and the city of Virginia Beach need to take “definitive steps” to block new development around Oceana Naval Air Station and roll back projects that already have reduced the base’s usefulness in training naval aviators, the head of a federal base closing commission said Monday.

“There needs to be a recognition that this is a serious problem and needs to be resolved now,” said Anthony J. Principi, chairman of the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

Some progress has been made, he added, but there are “complicated issues” surrounding the development rights of landowners with property already zoned to permit growth.

“I hope there’s a way that some of these issues can be resolved without the need to move out of Oceana,” Principi said.

In an interview, Principi repeatedly cited testimony from naval aviators who have described how adjustments in their training patterns – forced by development around Oceana – have eroded the quality of that training.

He also defended the nine-member commission against charges that it has exceeded its legal authority in exploring an offer by Florida officials to return a former Navy base, Cecil Field near Jacksonville, to the military to serve as a replacement for Oceana.

“The general counsel of the commission has stated unequivocally that it is not illegal” for the commission to investigate the Florida proposal, Principi said.

Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., charged on Friday that the commission is conducting “what may be perceived as a public auction” by granting Florida officials a hearing on their Cecil Field offer. That session is scheduled for Saturday in Washington and will include time for Virginia to rebut the Florida proposal.

Principi said he thinks the Navy might be able to return Cecil Field to service in the six-year window for actions by the BRAC Commission but that the timing and cost of a transfer are among the issues the commission wants to explore on Saturday.

If a transfer is unworkable in the time provided or if Cecil Field proves a less-desirable alternative than Florida officials have claimed, the commission ultimately might decide simply to include “strong report language” in its final message to President Bush and Congress, Principi said.

That could include urging that a firm date be set for resolving development issues around Oceana before the Navy begins to search for a new lternative somewhere else along the East Coast, he said.

“Speaking as one commissioner,” his aim has been to ensure that pilots who will be expected to land high-performance fighter aircraft on carrier decks can practice those maneuvers realistically, Principi said.

At Oceana, he said, the commission has heard testimony that pilots who must be able to land in near-total darkness on a carrier must train over well-lit neighborhoods and shopping centers. And rather than descend from about 600 feet, as will be expected at sea, they must begin their final approach to Oceana from about 1,000 feet, Principi added.

“Where I’m coming from, having two sons in the military, is to ensure that we minimize the risk” to pilots and crew members, Principi said. “If we can do that at Oceana, that’s the best of all possible options.”

Principi dismissed as “absolutely false ” suggestions that the BRAC Commission is responding to political pressures in examining the Florida facility, which has been championed as an Oceana alternative by Gov. Jeb Bush, the president’s brother.

He has met with every governor, and members of Congress, whose districts would be touched by proposed closures, without regard to their political party, Principi said. The commission has taken pains to do its work in the open, including scheduling Saturday’s hearing, so there would be no suggestion that it’s being swayed by political factors, but “when the stakes are this high, things are said,” he added.

While granting Florida’s request for a hearing, Principi said the panel will not pursue suggestions from Texas and North Carolina officials, who said bases in their states might provide an alternative to Oceana. The panel respects the Navy’s desire to keep the master jet base near the coast, a factor that rules out a move to Texas, he said, and the Carolina offer would require splitting Oceana’s jets between two bases, an undesirable step.

Principi said Saturday’s hearing will let commissioners examine the truth of claims by Florida officials that the kind of encroachment that has impeded operations at Oceana would not be a problem at Cecil Field.

The Florida base was ordered shut by the 1993 BRAC Commission as the Navy moved to consolidate its East Coast tactical aircraft operations at Oceana. Virginia officials have argued that skies crowded with commercial aircraft along the Florida coast limited Cecil Field’s usefulness, but Principi noted that before the closure the Defense Department actually judged the Florida base’s military value higher than Oceana’s.

A former secretary of veterans affairs, Principi is no stranger to high-pressure lobbying – veterans organizations are widely considered some of the most powerful on Capitol Hill – but he said he has been surprised by the tenor of some appeals to and attacks on the BRAC Commission.

“I understand the anxiety, the fear that these issues bring,” he said. “I knew this was going to be tough. … This has turned out in some ways to be even tougher” than running the VA .

Reach Dale Eisman at (703) 913-9872 or icemandc@msn.com.