Navy’s criteria bolster Everett

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Navy facilities in Everett and Oak Harbor stand a good chance of meeting the standards set for keeping military bases open, local officials said Tuesday.

The Department of Defense has announced the criteria that will be used to judge military bases as the federal government gets ready for the 2005 round of the Base Realignment and Closure process, or BRAC.

The plan sets out eight areas that will be used to judge which military bases are vital to the nation’s defense and should stay open. Four of the criteria focus on the "military value" of the facility.

"I think both Naval Station Everett and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island stack up real well," said U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, a 2nd District Democrat who serves on the House’s Armed Services Committee.

Larsen pointed to one of the criteria, centered on whether a military facility has ample land and air space for training. Whidbey Island Naval Air Station is far enough away from the Seattle-Tacoma and Vancouver, B.C., international airports to not pose a problem, he said.

"It’s located between two major airports without interfering with either of them," Larsen said, a benefit that other naval air stations can’t claim.

The cost of operations is another consideration, and Naval Station Everett fares well there, too.

"It is the newest homeport in the Navy. It’s costs are relatively lower to operate the base," Larsen said. "That — in an era of tightening budgets, even for the military — is critical."

More than 450 military installations have been closed as part of BRAC since 1988. BRAC 2005 is expected to be even bigger. Larsen said 20 to 25 percent of the military facilities in the U.S. may be closed.

"This is going to be the mother of all base-closure rounds," Larsen said.

Other local leaders also say military facilities in Everett and Oak Harbor should do well under the selection standards set out by the Department of Defense.

"I think the military value is going to trump everything," said Island County Commissioner Mac McDowell, a former Navy A-6 pilot who has been through previous BRAC rounds in Oak Harbor.

In the 1993 and 1995 closure rounds, Whidbey was No. 1 on the West Coast, and No. 1 in the entire United States, when air stations were ranked.

"Nothing’s really changed at Whidbey," McDowell said.

And when viewing other criteria that will also be considered, such as the economic impact that closing a base would have on nearby communities, Whidbey Island Naval Air Station will also stand apart from the pack.

The air station is one of the largest in the country, McDowell said, but it’s next to one of the smallest communities.

Supporters of military facilities in the Puget Sound area won’t wait for others to underscore those points, however.

"We’ll continue to work diligently to inform the decision-makers back in Washington, D.C., of what we have learned from prior years," McDowell said.

Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said he was encouraged that the criteria list was fact-based, and added that the team working to support Naval Station Everett has been meeting regularly for more than a year.

"I thought if they looked at this thing from a military perspective and strategic perspective, that we would do fine," he said.

What’s more, Stephanson said, Naval Station Everett is popular with sailors, has excellent deep-water access, and is extremely environmentally friendly.

"This isn’t our first time," he added. "We’ve got a real strong team on the field."

The group supporting the base includes representatives from the city, Snohomish County, the Port of Everett and the Greater Everett Chamber of Commerce.

Keeping Naval Station Everett open is vital to the local economy, Stephanson said.

The facility is the second largest employer in the county, and has a military and civilian payroll of roughly $185 million a year. Stephanson likened the work necessary to keep the Navy base open to the effort that was made to keep the production of Boeing’s next generation of airplanes in Everett.

"We proved through 7E7 that we could step up and make this state and this community more business friendly. We won on merit, and we’re going to have to reprove that once again through the BRAC process," he said.

The proposal is now subject to a 30-day public comment period. The final list will be set in February 2004.

In March 2005, the president will submit nominations for the BRAC commission to the Senate, and the list of bases that will be on the list for closure will be set by May 16, 2005.

Reporter Brian Kelly: 425-339-3422 or kelly@heraldnet.com.