Dornan Withdraws Support for Closing El Toro Air Station

Calling the housing situation that El Toro’s Marines would encounter “a nightmare,” Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) has withdrawn his earlier support for closing the local base and moving the Marine aviation units stationed there to Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego.

But Dornan, who toured both bases on Monday, stopped short of saying that he would oppose the Defense Department’s plan to close the El Toro base.

“I am on hold,” Dornan said Tuesday. “I am not opposing (the closure) but I cannot support it any longer. The housing situation for the Marines to move is a nightmare.”

Apparently overlooked in the Navy’s last-minute decision to add the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station to the list of military bases targeted for closure was the $430-million cost of building additional on-base housing at Miramar, or the $30-million-a-year cost in housing allowances to enable the transferred Marines to rent housing in the San Diego real estate market.

The construction and housing allowance costs were calculated by base officials at El Toro and were released by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach).

Currently, El Toro has 2,727 housing units on base, compared to just over 300 at Miramar.

“Where are we going to get the military construction money? I don’t see that happening,” Dornan said.

Dornan also said he would formally ask the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission to “restudy” the Pentagon’s plan to reshuffle Navy and Marine units in connection with the proposed closing of 10 California bases.

“I want to appear before the (commission) and tell them, ‘Look, unless you can guarantee some way to come up with housing money, you cannot do this to the Marine Corps,’ ” Dornan said.

Overall, local base officials say that the Navy had underestimated the real costs of moving Marine units from El Toro and Tustin to Miramar by almost $1 billion. The Navy has estimated costs of the move at $340 million, while local commanders say it would cost $1.268 billion.

After touring the bases Monday, Dornan said he was not disputing the higher cost estimate.

Dornan originally supported the planned closing after top Marine commanders in Washington made the case that the moves involving El Toro would save hundreds of millions of dollars.

“We had been given bad figures,” Dornan said.