“To mitigate the risk of a terrorist attack, accident, or natural disaster, the U.S. Navy will homeport an East Coast carrier in Mayport, Florida.”
Nothing else. No supporting language. Just one sentence. That one sentence could be a precursor to a disaster worse than the Ford plant closing. Worse than the Franklin paper mill closing. The worst economic blow that Hampton Roads has been dealt in a long time.
Concerns about losing a carrier rose a couple years ago when the politics of Presidential campaigns came into play. During the Presidential election, every hopeful wanted the Florida vote, and made campaign promises about bringing the carrier and all its surrounding benefits to Mayport. Political insiders spread rumors that Jeb was asking big brother for a favor, and it was being seriously considered.
Then last year it was discovered that the 2010 Defense legislation appropriated funds for upgrading a pier and dredging a channel to serve as a temporary docking place for a carrier. We were all told not to worry because this was clearly just for a temporary dock and there were no plans in the near future for a permanent move of a carrier to Mayport, and thus a $650 million loss to the region.
Most recently, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he was not going to speculate on the matter until the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review came out. And it just did. And guess what it said… (did you read the first line?)
Let the political battle ensue!
Every elected official and elected hopeful is making their voice heard. And with good reason. The loss of a carrier would an enormous loss to the Hampton Roads region. In addition to the aforementioned $650 million dollars, the region would lose 11,000 jobs. Make that 11,000 income-drawers, consumers and tax-payers.
People worry about having all the carriers docked in one place in case of a terrorist attack. As if they’re ever ALL docked in Norfolk at the same time.
And let’s talk about the cost to the taxpayer for a minute… well, shoot, Congressman Forbes can say it better than I can:
“At a time when the size of China’s Navy surpasses our own and continues to grow – fueled by yearly double-digit defense spending increases – and at a time when we know we have a $1.3 billion shortfall in our public shipyard infrastructure, a looming shortfall of 125 strike fighter aircraft by 2015, and are offering the lowest pay raise for troops in decades, I intend to demand full transparency into the decision-making behind the proposed use of up to a billion of taxpayer dollars on a move regarded as duplicative and even ‘scandalous.’”
Beautiful.
Sen. Jim Webb threw us a crumb of hope with his comment, “…it should be emphasized that although the QDR is a valuable planning tool, it is an internal document and does not have the force of law. Decisions with respect to matters such as homeporting are subject to the authorization and appropriations process of the Congress.” Wait a minute – authorization of Congress? Strike the hope part.
The good news is – can we call it good? – that the Navy has requested no appropriations for 2011 for Mayport construction. Only a minimal amount for planning and design. This is encouraging in the fact that while they’re moving forward on the QDR recommendations, there’s no real immediacy in their actions, and a lengthy political battle is rapidly growing on the horizon.
Here’s hoping our guys are better on the political battlefield than theirs.
