County Wins Partial Reprieve in Fight Over Closing Bases : Defense: Although Naval Training Center moves closer to being shut and Marine Recruit Depot to ‘realignment,’ the smaller Navy systems center will stay open.

Two major San Diego military facilities--the Naval Training Center and the Marine Recruit Depot--moved a step closer to closing or “realignment” Friday after the Defense Base Closures and Realignment Commission placed them on a list of final candidates.

In what was otherwise viewed as grim tidings, San Diego gained a small victory when the Washington-based commission decided not to close the Naval Electronic Systems Engineering Center, which employs 600. But local officials have focused their attention on the plight of the two major bases: NTC and MCRD.

For San Diego, a $302-million annual infusion to the economy and the location of almost 20,000 residents hangs in the balance, said Max Schetter of the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce.

Many local officials expressed surprise that the two San Diego bases were not removed from the hit list Friday. The Naval Training Center is being considered for closure, and the Marine Corps Recuit Training Depot is on the list for “realignment”--meaning it might be downsized or used differently, rather than closing.

Some officials vowed to launch a full-court press in the weeks ahead as the commission pares down the latest list to send to Congress on July 1.

Politicians from different states will attempt to defend their hometowns from an economic blow.

“This is a difficult battle for San Diego,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter. “Because San Diego effectively escaped all battle damage as a result of closures over the last several years, there’s strong sentiment that San Diego should be forced to share some of the defense base closure burden.”

With the military reducing its manpower, experts have agreed that the Navy will no longer need three training commands for boot camps--in San Diego, Florida and Illinois.

In a key move that indirectly affects San Diego, the independent bipartisan eight-person commission reversed an earlier decision to consider shutting the Navy’s Great Lakes Training Center in Illinois and voted to exempt that base from further consideration. This leaves officials here and in Florida to fight over which training command will be shut.

In the Pentagon’s own list, which was released earlier this spring, Navy officials suggested that the Orlando training command be closed and the San Diego base remain open. According to a Navy memo examining the merits of the three training commands: “All things considered, Naval Training Command Orlando graded lower in military value than the other two NTCs.”

Navy officials view the San Diego facility as attractive because of its location next to a major fleet operation, according to the memo. Because of the significant recent investments in the Great Lakes training facility, considered the Navy’s most modern, Navy officials do not want to close that base. Since land is too expensive to expand the Orlando command and the base is aging, Navy officials selected that command for closure, according to the memo.

“It’s a lot easier to train where you’ve got the ships,” said one high-ranking Pacific Fleet official, who requested anonymity because the Pentagon has asked officials to avoid getting involved in the fray. “But is the Pacific Fleet going to come to a halt if they close San Diego? No.”

According to Hunter, San Diego’s NTC operates at a lower cost than the other two training commands. Because more than 50% of NTC’s training staff come from other San Diego commands, the Navy avoids paying nearly $13 million in relocation expenses, he said.

While it costs the Orlando command $8,400 to train each recruit, it costs $5,300 to train each recruit in San Diego, Hunter said.

The commission, however, did not regard San Diego’s NTC as favorably as the other NTCs. The San Diego facility was ranked third in the overall quality of its facilities by the Navy, the commission reported.

Most of the San Diego recruit training facility’s 279 buildings were described as “inadequate and not up-to-date” by the commission, which added that the base’s 546 acres could not be significantly expanded to accommodate a surge of recruits.

With about 168 civilian employees and almost 9,300 military students and staff members, the base generates payrolls of almost $70 million annually, Senior Chief Petty Officer Paul Versailles, base spokesman, said.

More than half the 40,000 Marines recruited annually by the Corps are trained at MCRD. It has 7,000 active-duty Marines, 600 full-time civilian employees and 250 part-time employees.

For San Diego, where military spending totals $9.7 billion a year--or nearly 20% of the city’s $56-billion economy, the economic impact of closing one base and altering another would be significant, said Schetter of the Chamber of Commerce.

“The military is closely woven into the fabric of San Diego,” said Paul Downey, spokesman for the mayor.

But the threat is not only an economic one, Schetter and others said. It’s also a slap at San Diego’s traditional identity.

In a letter dated June 5 to Jim Couter, chairman of the Commission, Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham, wrote: “San Diego’s fate has been linked with the Navy for generations. Our natural harbor, idyllic weather and pro-military citizenry have served our armed forces well. We know that no other city has shown the same consistent support for our servicemen and women.”