Panel Reported to Urge Closing George AF Base

A Pentagon commission appointed to review the nation’s military bases will call for the closure of George Air Force Base 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) said Wednesday.

The Defense Secretary’s Commission on Base Realignment and Closure will also recommend the transfer of an air transport wing from Norton Air Force Base about 60 miles east of Los Angeles to March Air Force Base, which is 9 miles southeast of Riverside, said Lewis, who made his comments to reporters in response to questions about the Pentagon panel.

First Disclosures

The remarks by the congressman, who represents constituents in the area where the bases are situated, are the first disclosures of any of the base changes to be recommended by the commission, which is scheduled to release its official findings in Washington today.

Lewis and other officials in California and around the country have been anxiously awaiting those findings, which will affect thousands of workers and billions of dollars in local economies. Bases in California alone, he said, could account for as many as 5% of the recommended list of closures.

The disclosures by Lewis, who said that his information came from sources on the 12-person commission whom he would not identify, could not be independently confirmed. Hayden G. Bryan, the staff director of the panel, refused to comment, urging caution until the full report is presented this morning.

6,000 Jobs at Stake

With the closure of George, near Victorville in the Mojave Desert, the towns of southwest San Bernardino County could lose more than 6,000 civilian and military jobs and nearly $500 million in annual income, as well as an important role in the nation’s force of tactical warplanes. The base was activated as an Army Air Corps installation in 1941.

“I cannot conceive of how one could logically develop a reason for closing it down,” said Lewis, who voted against legislation creating the commission. “I don’t see how you can replace that.”

The transfer of the Air Force’s 63rd Military Airlift Wing from Norton Air Force Base could shift as many as 8,000 military and civilian employees to March Air Force Base, Lewis said, although the action would leave several key units in place at Norton, including the Air Force’s Ballistic Missile Office and the headquarters of the Aerospace Audiovisual Service.

Wing Location Questioned

“We’ve done everything in our power to provide a rationale for (keeping) that mission at Norton,” Lewis said, referring to the cargo airlift wing. He acknowledged, however, that in recent years some have questioned whether the Air Force should continue basing a wing of its cargo aircraft at Norton.

The 63rd Military Airlift Wing and a reserve military wing fly about 50 four-engine C-141 Starlifters and a fleet of smaller transport jets from Norton’s single 10,000-foot runway, according to Capt. Gary A. Jacobs, a spokesman at the base.

Lewis said that the transfer of the airlift wing could cut significantly into the economies of San Bernardino and such nearby communities as Redlands and Loma Linda.

The congressman, who said that Norton’s total payroll amounts to about $264 million a year, added that the base spends $40 million annually on non-aerospace contracting. In addition, he noted, the airlift wing represents more than half of the personnel at the base.

Heavy Impact Seen

The closing of George, home of the 831st Tactical Air Division, could have a devastating economic impact on the Victorville area and nearby communities. The division includes the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing and the 35th Tactical Training Wing, both of which fly F-4 jet fighters.

About 5,000 military personnel are assigned to the base, 2,349 of whom live in the surrounding communities, said Staff Sgt. Sarah Hood, a spokeswoman for George. In addition, 519 civilians, ranging from secretaries to engineers, work at the base, which was built as a fighter and bomber training center and is now the largest employer in the Victor Valley area.

Although Hood said in a telephone interview that she had heard “nothing to confirm” the base closing, city officials, community leaders and business owners across the high desert communities of Victor Valley--which has a population of about 150,000--reacted to word of the potential action with shock and fear.

“My initial reaction is that I can’t believe it, having been the base commander there for three years from 1983 to 1986,” said retired U.S. Air Force Col. Dean White, now executive director of the Hesperia Chamber of Commerce.

‘Complete Shock’

Edward Conrady, chairman of the Victor Valley/George Air Force Base Community Council, agreed and said: “This comes as a complete shock . . . . I can’t see they can possibly close that base.

“We will take some kind of action if we think it can help,” said Conrady, whose group acts as a liaison between the base and the high desert communities of Victorville, Hesperia, Adelanto and Apple Valley. “Whether that action will be a letter-writing campaign or what, I just don’t know yet.”

“My immediate reaction is shock and disbelief--that base is a very heavy source of economic stability in this area,” said Victorville City Councilwoman Peggy Sartor. “The base impacts retail stores, food and clothing businesses and schools; their kids go to our schools, and we get money from the state for each kid.”

Says Arguments Excluded

Lewis said the panel made its review in secret and did not allow hearings that would have provided arguments for preserving bases.

He made his disclosures as the commission put the finishing touches on its 100-page report, which could recommend the closure and realignment of as many as 50 U.S. bases. Working since May, the commission has sifted through data on 3,800 U.S. military installations in search of some whose closure could save the Defense Department money within six years.

Once accepted by Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci, the commission’s recommended list is to be sent to Congress. The closings will take effect unless both houses vote to reject the entire list within 45 days.

Will Mount Effort

Lewis said that he will move for a rejection of the recommendations because of their local impact and because of the secrecy and the haste with which the commission has conducted its ambitious mission. “The way it’s been run is sufficient reason, surely, to mount an effort to reject its conclusions,” Lewis said.

But he conceded that “it will be awfully difficult” to sink the initiative, which has drawn widespread support from lawmakers, watchdog groups and the news media. “It will be the most difficult of trench warfare” to stop the closure of bases that the commission identifies as expendable, Lewis said.

Melissa Healy reported from Washington and Louis Sahagun from Riverside.