Countywide : Cheney Pays Brief Visit to El Toro

Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, stopping Tuesday at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station on a tour of the state’s military bases, restated his intent to close down several facilities nationwide as part of defense budget cuts.

However, Cheney provided no specific details about the future of the El Toro jet fighter base, the Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station on Red Hill Avenue, Camp Pendleton in San Diego County or any other military base.

During his 30-minute visit, Cheney sat in the cockpits of two fighter planes parked on the apron at the air station and was greeted by Maj. Gen. Royal Moore, commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

In a brief press conference after the plane inspections, Cheney said he was visiting military sites “in the midst of our ongoing budget debates . . . to understand as much as possible what our capabilities are and what our problems are.”

Both Cheney and Assistant Defense Secretary Peter Williams declined to comment on the future of Orange County’s bases, except to say that the El Toro base is not on the current list of closures.

Irvine city officials have spoken of consolidating operations at El Toro with Camp Pendleton in north San Diego County. Although city officials have kept a close eye on that possibility, they were not notified of Cheney’s visit and did not have plans to meet with him, said City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr.

“We’ll certainly talk to local officials and hear their arguments,” Williams said. “Nothing is immune from scrutiny these days.”

Cheney visited Navy operations earlier Tuesday morning in Coronado and was scheduled to tour a Lockheed plant in Burbank and McDonnell Douglas facilities in Long Beach after leaving El Toro.

Cheney, a former House Republican whip, also took time to criticize a $24-million budget cut proposed by Congress for 1991, in addition to the cuts it has already asked.

“I think it would be unwise if that happens,” Cheney said. “The only place we could take cuts would be in personnel. I think it would do a lot of damage in California and everywhere.”