BRUNSWICK – At a time when President Bush aims to better protect U.S. shores, Brunswick Naval Air Station and its marine patrol aircraft ought to be safe from closure.
It’s not that simple, though, say supporters of BNAS.
With as many as one quarter of the nation’s 400 bases to be targeted for closure this year, groups across the country are arguing for their local bases.
“There’s a lot of noise,” retired Navy Capt. Ralph Dean said. “This process is also a fast mover.”
On Tuesday, the Navy delivered its classified list of targeted bases to the Pentagon.
On May 1, just 10 weeks from now, the Pentagon will submit its proposed list to the nine-member Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
That’s too short a period for the Department of Defense to take a careful look at all the bases from each of branch of the military, Dean said.
“Mistakes will be made,” he told members of the Brunswick Town Council.
Dean joined a panel of seven volunteers Tuesday to brief councilors on the fight to preserve the base. The retired captain and others, including Harry Rich, a retired rear admiral, presented an overview of their work for the past 2 years.
Their work has crystallized into something they call, “the story.”
It includes the information that BNAS is the last active-duty airfield in the Northeast, that its infrastructure is fairly new and would cost little to maintain, and that it’s in a unique position to defend the United States with its marine patrol aircraft.
“We need to communicate to people that Brunswick Naval Air Station is no longer a relic of the Cold War,” Dean said. The base and its planes are more vital than ever, he said.
In December, President Bush began a new security effort aimed at protecting U.S. shores and ports from terrorists.
“Sixty thousand containers come into this country every year and the U.S. checks about 2 percent of them,” Dean said.
Brunswick could help secure America’s coastline, watching shipping on the eastern seaboard the way its planes already work to intercept drug smugglers in the Caribbean.
“You can’t do this from only one base,” Dean said. On the East Coast, the only other marine patrol base is in Jacksonville, Fla.
It’s the message the task force is trying to get to decision makers.
“We have a huge task in front of us,” said Richard Tetrev, a former second-in-command at the base and chairman of the task force.
Already, the word is getting out. Funded by a $50,000 grant from the state, the all-volunteer task force has met with leaders in Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s office, and in the Navy, Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security. Access to those people was often arranged by members of Maine’s congressional delegation, who have done their own lobbying.
On Monday, the entire delegation met with Navy Secretary Gordon England to make a plea for the preservation of the air base and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery.
The aim of everyone in the Brunswick task force is to get complete and accurate information to the decision makers, Dean said.
“The Department of Defense should have the right to close whatever base it wants to close,” Dean said.
“The best we can hope for is a fair hearing,” he said.
Of course, they hope their work is done on May 16, when the Pentagon’s proposed closure list goes public.
“In the event that we’re on the list, there’s a lot of work that’s got to get going,” Tetrev said.
“On May 16, it’s open warfare,” he said.
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