After the Navy left, the base became Cecil Commerce Center, and Jacksonville has strived to recapture the loss of about 9,500 military and civilian jobs with commercial development. The current Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission has rated Cecil Field as having slightly more military value than Oceana. Courtesy of the Florida Times-Union

The closing of Cecil Field Naval Air Station in 1999 left the taxpayers of Jacksonville, Fla., the owners of a mostly empty 60-year-old air base.

The city and its various public agencies have chipped away at bringing in new civilian development, spending $133 million to reinvigorate the World War II-era installation. But now, after several years, the brightest prospect may be a returning tenant – the U.S. Navy.

Florida and Virginia leaders have reopened a battle over Cecil Field and Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach that dates back to the early 1990s. As Saturday’s key hearing over the future of both bases approaches , each side is again touting the military value of their facilities.

It has become something of a grudge match.

The struggle has come with shifting arguments and even some shifting advocates. A one-time Oceana supporter, retired Adm. Robert J. Natter, is now leading Florida’s charge to reopen Cecil Field.

And in another irony, 12 years after a federally appointed Base Realignment and Closure Commission approved closing Cecil Field, a new BRAC panel is considering whether to reopen the base and move Oceana’s fighter jet squadrons there.

In 1993, the Defense Department placed Cecil Field on its list for recommended closure, citing excess capacity at its East Coast air stations. Florida leaders argued strongly enough to BRAC members, whose job was to review the list, to persuade the federal commission to consider closing Oceana instead. Oceana won, eventually getting 10 squadrons from Cecil Field.

The intense arguments set the stage for the current rivalry.

Both bases hosted the most advanced Navy jets, sat near the coast, and were called vital pieces of Navy real estate and air space.

The commission believed that the Navy overstated the amount of interfer ence by civilian air traffic into Cecil Field air space, and rated Cecil as having more military value than Oceana.

But after weighing all the issues, the commissioners were briefed on a secret mission supported by Oceana. They left the session convinced that the mission – and thus Oceana’s aircraft – could not be moved from Virginia.

The Florida congressional delegation cried foul. U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fl a., said the delegation proved the Navy was wrong to back Oceana.

“When the Navy’s back was to the wall, they threw that 'national security’ trump card,” Stearns said the day BRAC’s decision came down. “It’s like we’re playing football and three minutes to the end of the game they moved the goal posts.”

Charles Nemfakos, a retired Navy Department executive who oversaw the service’s preparation for base closings in 1993 and 1995, recalled this week that leaders wanted to eliminate as much excess space as possible. Among the four air bases considered, closing Cecil Field cut the most extra capacity.

Although Cecil Field sits

15 miles from downtown Jacksonville, the Navy was concerned about commercial air traffic flying north and south over the field, he said.

Oceana scored high for its nearness to the fleet and was able to support future aircraft inventories, he said. Nemfakos works as a defense industry consultant, and is no longer involved in base closure issues.

After Cecil Field left federal ownership, part of it became Cecil Commerce Center . The city and redevelopment authority strived to recapture the loss of about 9,500 military and civilian jobs. So far, private firms and government contractors have created about 1,600 jobs, Jacksonville officials said.

Navy jets still fly into and out of the airstrip for maintenance by the defense contractors that lease hangar space. Tenants include The Boeing Co ., the Department of Homeland Security and a collection of defense contractors.

Public funding added new runway lights for civilian and limited military use, fixed airplane hangars and aging road and drainage systems.

Its Navy retirement has also featured parts in two John Travolta movies, and as a parking lot for hundreds of private jets when the city hosted the Super Bowl.

Florida leaders recently disclosed that informal discussions about reclaiming Cecil Field for the Navy have gone on for several years.

The opportunity finally came in July when BRAC chairman Anthony J. Principi solicited an offer from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to re-establish the base.

“To us, this is the Super Bowl without four yeas of planning,” Michael Stewart, a spokesman for the Jacksonville Airport Authority, said this week.

Florida hired retired Adm. Natter, former commander of the Atlantic Fleet, to lobby for the state’s interests – including Cecil Field – during this round of base closings. A group led by Natter received $510,000 from the state last year, and gets $50,000 per month, according to published accounts.

Before, Natter was a strong backer of Oceana and Navy efforts to establish a new outlying field in North Carolina to replace the Fentress Naval Auxiliary Landing Field in Chesapeake. The outlying field, the Navy has argued, is critical for pilots to practice aircraft carrier landings without urban interfer ence.

In an October 2000 letter, Natter said the Navy needed a solution for the next 50 to 100 years when additional high-performance aircraft join the fleet. A new practice field in North Carolina could do that, he said, and emphasized Oceana’s importance.

“Oceana and Fentress remain critically important to fleet safety and training and, along with an additional outlying field, would be used to ensure the combat readiness of our aircrews,” he wrote.

Two years ago, Natter also urged the Navy to base eight of 10 new East Coast Super Hornet squadrons at Oceana.

But last week, Natter urged BRAC commissioners to replace Oceana.

“The population encroachment surrounding Oceana/Fentress has seriously impacted flight training for our young pilots and has seriously complicated the scheduling of flight operations, especially in support of carrier deployments,” he said in written testimony.

The advantages of Cecil Field, he wrote, include its closeness to other military bases and bombing ranges, rural location, and low cost to re-open. The state has offered to return the entire base to the Department of Defense.

Natter did not return a phone call to his office seeking comment Wednesday.

Virginia proponents of saving Oceana said Natter’s argument flew in the face of the evidence.

“He is an officer and a gentleman and a patriot,” said Robert Matthias, assistant to the Virginia Beach city manager. “I think he’s put some of that aside for his current position.”

Beach proponents say they expect to argue during Saturday’s the hearing before BRAC that the Florida data are unreliable because they weren’t produced by the Defense Department, as required by law.

Jacksonville officials say their redevelopment plan is working, but still want the Navy back.

Susan Wiles, a spokeswoman for the Jacksonville mayor, said the city has not figured out all the logistics of reopening the base.

“We’re answering questions. We’re hosting lots of people,” she said. “Ultimately, someone will have to make a decision.”

Staff writer Dale Eisman and news researcher Jake Hays contributed to this report.

Reach Louis Hansen at (757) 446-2322 or louis.hansen@pilotonline.com.