Report Looks at Sparing 2 Area Bases

At the request of the commission that will recommend base closures, the Navy has prepared a report addressing the possibility of keeping open the El Toro and Tustin Marine Corps air stations in Orange County and shutting down Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego instead, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) said Thursday.

A commission source said Thursday night that the Navy is not expected to change its recommendation to close El Toro. Rather, the report is among a number that the commission requested after questions about the military’s base closing proposals were raised in hearings across the country.

Cox, who has repeatedly pressed for a more detailed explanation of Navy cost estimates on El Toro, said: “It’s plain that both the Pentagon and the base closure commission are taking a thoroughly fresh look at this recommendation (to close El Toro).”

Cox said the Navy’s memorandum was prompted by a request from the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, which is evaluating what bases to close as part of the cutbacks in defense spending.

The commission has been told that reshuffling Marine aviation units among Southern California bases--closing El Toro and Tustin in the process--would cost almost $1 billion more than the Navy has projected.

Cox and Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) on Thursday sent a letter to Adm. Frank B. Kelso, the acting secretary of the Navy, asking for a copy of the new Navy report, “since it could have a direct impact on the base closure list, not to mention two bases in our Congressional districts.”

The Navy had not responded to the request by late Thursday, Cox said.

Orange County officials were cheered by the latest development and said they are optimistic that federal officials are reconsidering El Toro.

Miramar spokesman Doug Sayers said he was unaware of serious discussion about closing Miramar. “If Miramar’s future were being discussed or planned for, we would be part of the process on some level,” he said.

The base closing panel is scheduled to decide on May 21 whether to add additional bases to the closure list. By July 1, the commission must decide which of those bases to keep open and which to close.

Two years ago, the commission added 35 bases to the Pentagon’s recommendations but closed none of those added. Four bases from the Pentagon’s list, however, were saved.