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Shaffer
10-07-02, 08:44 AM
There is a cautious optimism among those who want to see at least four squadrons of the Navy's F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets based at Cherry Point.

But, they've seen this movie before. Until the official word is issued -- sometime in late spring or early summer 2003 -- those in the know say they believe it could all come down to politics.

"I hope what happened in 1995 does not happen this time," U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-3rd Dist.) said last month in New Bern at a hearing conducted by the Navy to allow citizen input on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). "Cherry Point had received millions of dollars to improve the infrastructure for the F/A-18s that were supposed to come and politics got into it and the decision was made for those planes to go directly to Oceana."

When the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission closed Naval Air Station Cecil Field, Fla., in 1993, it recommended 163 F/A-18 Hornets based there be moved to Marine Corps Air Stations Cherry Point and Beaufort, S.C.

But, Sen. John Warner of Virginia intervened with then Secretary of the Navy John Dalton.

In a letter to Dalton, Warner said "serious limitations on the resource capacity" at Cherry Point required that all the jets go to NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach, Va.

He got most of what he wanted in 1995. Ten of Cecil Field's 12 squadrons ended up there. The remaining two went to Beaufort, S.C., where the Marine Corps has seven Hornet squadrons.

Again, Navy planes could end up at Cherry Point, with those residents wanting the estimated $20 million in annual economic impact facing off against those who don't want the jet noise the planes will produce.

Though there are various alternatives, those recommended involve bringing two or four 13-jet squadrons to Cherry Point and constructing an Outlying Landing Field for training purposes in either western Craven County or in Washington County.

The OLF is a particular point of contention, with those in western Craven, Beaufort and Washington counties saying the only impact they will get is the noise from an estimated 51,000 takeoffs and landings each year.

Meanwhile, political leaders from Virginia, including Warner, are again fighting to get all the Hornets based in Virginia Beach, thus leaving Cherry Point out of the plan.

Jones said North Carolina was "out politicked" for the Hornets in 1995.

The Navy contends the decision will be made according to which location best provides the facilities and functions necessary to support the squadrons, and their training need for Fleet Carrier Landing Practice.

Members of Concerned Citizens Against Jet Noise, a Virginia Beach, Va.-based opposition group, have not been happy with that decision. They have been very vocal opponents of any move to add more jets to the skies above Virginia Beach.

Navy representatives held meetings in eastern North Carolina in July 2000. The meetings marked the beginning stages of its Environmental Impact Study (EIS) that would be conducted to determine which of up to 12 locations were the most suitable for this new generation of fighter plane.

F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets are designed to replace older F/A-18 C/D Hornets and F-14 Tomcats now stationed at NAS Oceana and are to serve the Navy for the next 30 years. Ten Super Hornet fleet squadrons, with 130 planes, and one Fleet Replacement Squadron, with 32 planes, will replace 150 F-14 Tomcats and 37 F/A-18 C/D Hornets.

The four East Coast bases under consideration were Cherry Point, Beaufort, S.C., Oceana, Va., and Meridian, Miss. The Navy studied the possible location of all the aircraft at each base, and considered split-location scenarios.

The release of the DEIS in July listed Cherry Point, Oceana and Beaufort, S.C. as the most suitable locations.

"Though we have been slated and we are very pleased, this is not a final decision," said Ed Brown, deputy director of Operations, Marine Corps Bases Eastern Area, at Cherry Point. "We still have to complete the final Environmental Impact Statement before the decision is made. We still have a long way to go."

Six alternatives were presented in the DEIS. ALT 1 calls for all 10 fleet squadrons to be stationed at Oceana. ALT 2 would send all of them to Cherry Point. ALT 3 proposes basing all 10 squadrons at MCAS Beaufort, S.C., and transferring existing Marine Corps assets to Cherry Point.

The scenario in ALT 4A would put six squadrons at Oceana and four at Cherry Point, while ALT 4B would send the four to Beaufort, S.C. ALT 5A and 5B reverse the numbers, with six squadrons going to Cherry Point with four in Oceana under plan A and four to Beaufort, S.C., under plan B. ALT 6 leaves eight squadrons in Oceana and sends two to Cherry Point.

The recommendations outlined in the DEIS favor ALT 4A and ALT 6. They also call for building a new Outlying Landing Field (OLF) in Craven County, five miles east of Vanceboro, or in Washington County, nine miles southeast of Plymouth.

The DEIS initially identified six sites as potential locations for an OLF -- five of them in North Carolina and one in Georgia. The North Carolina sites were located in Perquimans County, north of Winfall; in Bertie County, northeast of Windsor; in Washington County, southeast of Plymouth; in Craven County, east of Vanceboro; and in Hyde County, northwest of Englehard.

Opposition started early from Washington County residents and from residents of the other counties near the Virginia line. They said they would have no part of a plan to export the jet noise from the Virginia Beach area, while it reaped all the economic gain of the influx of Navy personnel and supporting personnel who would locate there.

Residents of Beaufort County, into which about 30 percent of the Craven County OLF footprint extends, were not happy about the noise the aircraft carrier landing practice could bring to their county. They also objected to the fact that they were not provided an opportunity to be heard.

The Navy responded by adding a hearing in Beaufort County and extending the deadline for public comment until Friday.

Members of the Beaufort County OLF opposition group, Citizens Opposed to Outlying Landing Strips (COOLS-OLF), contend that one of the options outlined in the DEIS is a parallel runway at Cherry Point, and that is the one they are urging the Navy to consider.

The Navy reports constructing a parallel runway at Cherry Point would mean the loss of an estimated 42 to 45 acres of wetlands, the filling of about 7.2 acres within the 100-year flood plain and the removal of forested vegetation along Hancock Creek and eight of its tributaries.

The OLF is expected to see over 51,000 takeoffs and landings per year. And, since the OLF is designed for night aircraft carrier landing practice, opponents fear much of the traffic will occur at night.

According to a spokesman for the Department of the Navy, the next step in the decision-making process will involve reviewing citizens' comments, researching their concerns and compiling recommendations.

The findings will then be sent up the Navy's chain of command. The final decision will be made by the office of the Secretary of the Navy.

Residents can go to www.efaircraft.com by Friday to post comments concerning the Navy's plans.

Navy's basing options

ALT 1: All 10 squadrons at Oceana.

ALT 2: All 10 squadrons at Cherry Point

ALT 3: All 10 squadrons at Beaufort, S.C, with transfer of

Marine Corps assets to Cherry Point

ALT 4A: Six squadrons at Oceana and four at Cherry Point

ALT 4B: Six squadrons at Oceana and four at Beaufort, S.C.

ALT 5A: Six squadrons at Cherry Point and four at Oceana

ALT 5B: Six squadrons at Cherry Point and four at Beaufort, S.C.

ALT 6: Eight squadrons at Oceana and two at Cherry Point.

NOTE: DEIS recommendations favor ALT 4A and ALT 6. All
alternatives call for placement of Outlying Landing Field in
either western Craven County near Vanceboro or in Washington County near Plymouth.