August 25, 2005

Fla. to gain 3,400 jobs in base realignment plan

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Pensacola area bases should keep a three-star admiral who oversees all Navy training and 738 staff members, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission decided today, rejecting a Pentagon proposal to move them to Tennessee.

The unanimous vote was a major victory for Florida. The state now is on track for a net gain of about 3,400 military and civilian jobs as the commission closes and reconfigures military bases, including major expansions at nearby Eglin Air Force Base and Navy installations at Jacksonville.

Retired Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr. moved to reject the Defense Department recommendation that would have moved the Naval Education and Training Command and associated personnel from Pensacola Naval Air Station and nearby Saufley Field to Millington, Tenn.

"There's no payback. As a matter of fact, there's a net cost," Gehman said. "This recommendation does not meet the test that we've established."

Gehman said the link between the Education and Training Command and the Navy's personnel bureau, now at Millington, was not apparent. He said the proposal also would have removed the education and training command from any of the bases it oversees.

Retired Gen. Lloyd W. "Fig" Newton, who once headed the Air Force's Air Education and Training Command, agreed that the command should stay in Pensacola.

"This is the right thing to do," said Newton. "They are located at the right place."

Pensacola, however, still may sustain a net loss of about 900 positions due to other proposals already approved or pending before the commission.

The commission also approved a proposal to establish initial training for the new Joint Strike Fighter at Eglin with 811 positions that would be transferred from other bases including 295 from Pensacola.

Pensacola and Saufley would lose 637 jobs through the commission's recommendation to close Defense Finance and Accounting Service offices at those bases. A similar office in Orlando also was approved for closure.

The panel Wednesday had approved a Pentagon proposal to transfer the Navy's Officer Training Command from Pensacola to Newport, R.I., at a cost of 295 jobs.

Overall, Eglin has gained more than 2,300 positions so far, including 1,400 soldiers from the Army's 7th Special Forces Group who would move from Fort Bragg, N.C. The commission also has approved creation of an Air Integrated Weapons and Armament Research, Development and Acquisition, Test and Evaluation Center at Eglin by moving 100 positions from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and Fort Belvoir, Va.

Decisions by the panel, meeting in suburban Washington, D.C., will not be final until it concludes its deliberations later this week. The commission's recommendations then would go to President Bush and Congress for final action.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is still being developed and tested, but it is expected to become operational in 2007. Three variations of the jet would be used by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, which would get a vertical takeoff and landing version.

Commission Chairman Anthony Principi, a former secretary of Veterans Affairs, questioned why the Pentagon had selected Eglin for the F-35 training over Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., which the Defense Department has listed for closure.

Newton replied that Eglin's proximity to the Gulf of Mexico would give Navy and Marine Corps pilots an opportunity to train over water and make aircraft carrier landings in the new jet.

"If we were only training, say Air Force pilots, then Cannon would probably be an ideal location to do this," Newton said. "But since this is a joint program I can see with this initial training this is probably the right place."