Supporters of Brunswick Naval Air Station are preparing for a year-long battle.
A leader in the fight to save Brunswick Naval Air Station from closure next year says he gives little hope to a plea from Maine’s congressional delegation, who want to change how the Defense Department measures its bases for closure.
Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Rep. Tom Allen together sent letters to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld this week asking for new criteria.
On Friday, Richard Tetrev, the chairman of the Brunswick Naval Air Station Task Force, said he expects the letter to have no effect on the rules.
It may, however, put Pentagon leaders on notice that Maine is watching, he said.
“They had to do it,” said Tetrev of the delegation. “The (Pentagon) will know we’re here.”
At stake are thousands of jobs and millions of dollars.
Brunswick Naval Air Station is Maine’s second-largest employer with personnel totaling 4,935. Of those, 3,489 are enlisted, 709 are officers and 737 are civilians.
According to officials at the base, about $115 million is spent on salaries and $62 million on contracts and purchases in area communities.
The Pentagon’s original criteria were announced on Dec. 31. They include such variables as a base’s readiness, its overall condition and efficiency, its economic impact on the local area and environmental impacts. The public had until Sunday, Jan. 31, to comment. The delegation sent its letters on Monday.
They asked that bases be given credit for involvement in joint efforts with military branches and with allies.
They also asked for ocean accessibility to be a factor. Both could be a help to the Brunswick base.
Tetrev, the base’s second-in-command during the last two closure rounds in 1992 and 1995, said he and his group will work to tell people about the base and its strengths, particularly its position as one of the few air stations in the Northeast. The next-closest active duty air base is in New Jersey.
“We’ve just got to educate people,” said Tetrev.
Few decision-makers in the Pentagon were around during those other closure rounds, he said. “We’re starting with a clean slate.”
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld plans to issue his list of military bases for closure in May 2005.
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