By Bonnie Washuk,Staff Writer

BRUNSWICK – “Stunning” and shocking was how U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe described the base closure commission’s decision to fold up the Brunswick Naval Air Station and move its planes to Jacksonville, Fla.

Given the post-9/11 environment and threat of terrorism, and with New England among the country’s most populated regions, it makes no sense to leave the Northeast unprotected, Snowe said.

Because of a “reckless chase for false savings, the Northeast was abandoned by the military,” she said, and the region is losing the last fully operational air base.

Snowe, a Republican, was among a group of top Maine politicians who gathered in the Brunswick town council meeting room to await word of the base closure commission’s decision Wednesday.

When it comes to defending the country, “geography matters,” Snowe said. “It’s a primary attribute for any base.” Snowe held up a map showing four or five bases that existed in the Northeast “a few short years ago.” She held up another showing only one base, Brunswick.

In 2009, Brunswick will be gone.

“It’s hard to imagine,” Snowe said. “With the world we live in, we should be able to respond to threats at a moment’s notice,” she said. “You can’t counter effectively threats from Jacksonville.” Responding to threats or patrolling the Atlantic coast from Florida will add three hours to flight missions, she said. “A single maritime air base does not stand to reason.”

The Department of Defense has repeatedly said that closing Brunswick would strip the Northeast of the capacity for rapid force deployment. The base is not only important to Maine and the Northeast, “but to America. This decision the commission will come to regret.”

When it came to the commission decision not to close the Kittery shipyard, which employs about 4,200, Gov. John Baldacci and members of Maine’s congressional delegation said they were pleased and relieved. They praised the commission for rejecting the Department of Defense’s recommendation to close the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine.

“The Department of Defense targeted the Northeast, without question,” Snowe said. “The commission attempted to mitigate that with maintaining Portsmouth. The figures and facts spoke volumes about the value of Portsmouth,” she said. “They recognized that.”

But facts were ignored with the Brunswick base, other high-powered politicians agreed.

The evidence of the strategic value of the base “is overwhelming,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. The commissioners disregarded that, she said. “

The governor called the Brunswick vote “a bad decision,” one not supported by the facts and merits. “We feel this decision is contrary to the national interest and security of the United States,” Baldacci said.

U.S. Reps. Mike Michaud and Tom Allen, both Democrats, echoed the sentiment that closing Brunswick is “a big error.” They also promised to do everything they can to help the region recover.

It’s human nature to wonder whether the base could have been saved if something had been done differently, Michaud said. That is not the case, he said, adding everything that could have been done was done.

Saying that Mainers are resourceful, Baldacci predicted that the state will weather the loss.

He outlined steps the state and the congressional delegation will take to ensure the area does not suffer. That help will include worker retraining, money to grow small businesses, tuition-free college classes for displaced workers, and open enrollment in Dirigo Health on Jan. 1 to workers in small businesses.

Since the base will not close until 2009, there’s time to transition, Baldacci said. Calling the closure a challenge, he said Maine will “make the most of it. We’ve done it before. We’re going to do it again.”

Maine’s congressional delegation will consider fighting the decision, Snowe said, but changing Brunswick’s outcome now will be unlikely. President Bush has vowed not to intervene in the commission’s recommendation, and there’s little the U.S. House or Senate can do. When the base closure recommendations reach Congress, “it’s an up or down vote,” Snowe said.

Don Russell, chairman of the Topsham Board of Selectmen, said the Navy personnel who live in the area will be missed. They contribute in many ways, including coaching sports and serving on boards. “Their diverse ideas have been worth their weight in gold,” he said.

Russell said he’ll also miss the sights and sounds of the air base. He’s lived in the area for more than 60 years, “and I’m quite used to hearing the P-3’s going overhead. The silence is going to be deafening.”