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Jets lined up at Oceana. file

VIRGINIA BEACH — A commander of U.S. military special forces said in a letter Monday that Oceana Naval Air Station is the only airfield that can meet the needs of his command.

U.S. Sen. John W. Warner released the letter late Monday to bolster Virginia’s case for keeping Oceana as the Navy’s East Coast hub for fighter attack jets.

Warner, R-Va., who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent the letter to the chairman of the federal base-closing commission that will decide Oceana’s fate.

The Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission is scheduled to vote this week on whether to recommend moving Oceana’s jets to Cecil Field, a former Navy air base in Jacksonville, Fla.

Oceana’s classified role in supporting special operations forces , including Navy SEAL s, convinced a base-closing panel in 1993 that the secret mission – and thus the base’s aircraft – could not be moved from Virginia.

Monday’s letter from Army Gen. Bryan D. Brown, who heads the U.S. Special Operations Command, came in response to an inquiry by Warner about Oceana’s significance to special operations.

“I would like to clearly state the Command’s position on this matter,” wrote Brown, whose command is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.

Given the command’s “current posture in the Norfolk, Va., area, in terms of both specialized facilities and uniquely demanding operation considerations,” Brown said, “Naval Air Station Oceana is the only airfield that can meet our classified and highly sensitive mission requirements.”

Brown’s letter contradicts testimony at a hearing Saturday in which delegations from Virginia and Florida argued their cases before the BRAC Commission.

At the hearing, retired Adm. Robert J. Natter, former commander of the Atlantic Fleet and now a hired consultant for Florida, assured the commission that the special operations forces mission could be moved to another base in the Norfolk region.

Natter said he was aware of the mission and was convinced it did not have to occur at Oceana.

Members of the BRAC Commission were briefed in a closed session on Aug. 4 about Oceana’s secret role. It did not appear to convince the panel of the base’s singular importance.

Instead, the commission announced a week later that Florida officials should be given a hearing so the panel could consider reopening Cecil Field. The 1993 BRAC panel had voted to close Cecil Field based on Navy recommendations.

John Ullyot, a spokesman for Warner, said Brown’s letter “adds another strong and relevant voice” to keeping the Navy’s master jet base at Oceana.

“Oceana is critical not just to the Navy, but to the special operations mission and other joint forces, one of the most important commands in waging the war on terror,” Ullyot said. “The disruption that the closing of Oceana would have on the war on terror is not something the Navy or the joint forces is interested in.”

Members of the BRAC panel have expressed concerns that suburban development around Oceana has compromised pilot training there and poses safety risks for Navy pilots and the community. On July 19, the panel voted 7-1 to add Oceana to the list for possible closure.

Navy officials have told the BRAC Commission that the ideal solution would be to build a new master jet base. But for now, they said, Oceana remains the best place for the East Coast master jet base.

The BRAC panel is scheduled to vote Wednesday on Army and Navy bases being considered for closure or downsizing.

Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf, who testified at Saturday’s hearing, said she is “cautiously optimistic” that the commission “will see the virtue in continuing the use of Oceana.”

“I have given them every assurance that our city can possibly afford that the base will be protected as conscientiously as we can,” Oberndorf said. “This has been a very difficult situation to be in.”

City Councilman Bob Dyer, who attended Saturday’s hearing, said Virginia has made a “realistic case” for keeping Oceana.

“We’ll probably survive this by the skin of our teeth,” Dyer said. “I think during a time of war and a budget crunch, it’d be in the Navy’s best interest to stay here and to use the resources where they’re needed.”

Reach Jon W. Glass at (757) 222-5119 or jon.glass@pilotonline.com.