Employees, Retirees Ponder Future Without Air Station : Impact: About 2,100 civilians would lose their jobs, and ex-military personnel would lose support system.

Paz Rivera kept a smile on her face as she served up hot dogs, sodas and ice cream Saturday from behind the counter of a concession stand at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. But the 69-year-old Mission Viejo woman also struggled to hold back tears at the news that she may soon be unemployed.

“I am going to be 70. Who is going to hire me? What will I do?” said Rivera, who said she had heard talk about the base closing, but Saturday’s decision still came as a surprise. “Our lives are here. What will I do?”

The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission’s recommendation to close the El Toro base was met with fear, anger and uncertainty by many of the base’s 2,100 civilian employees, who will most likely be unemployed if the recommendation is accepted by President Clinton and ratified by Congress.

At the base’s open-air exchange Saturday, where many active and retired servicemen and women shop and socialize, the decision was greeted with stoic resignation. But many also denounced the decision as a costly undertaking and a risky endeavor that will make the country susceptible to attack by a foreign country.

“Remember what happened during World War II? We weren’t ready and we could be caught off guard again,” said retired Army Master Sgt. Joe Francis, 64, of Seal Beach as he milled about the exchange. “Strategically, it’s wrong. Only President Clinton can stop it.”

Luci Sanders, 26, who works as a cashier at the base exchange and whose husband is a Marine, said any future move is all part of life in the Marines.

“I feel sad that the base is closing because it’s been our home for two years. But you have to pick up and go when they tell you,” said Sanders, who added that she is more concerned about her 8-year-old son, who attends El Toro Marine Military School. “I haven’t had the heart to tell him. He loves the base and he loves his school.”

Pentagon hearings on which military bases to save or ax led to seemingly contradictory reports by public officials about whether closing El Toro would save any money at all.

“That’s what has been so annoying about this whole thing. You’d think the money issue is a question that could be answered once and for all,” said retired Marine Charles Dalrymple, 69, of Leisure World in Laguna Hills, as he shopped at the exchange.

Cpl. David Linder, 23, of Orange said he believes moving El Toro’s Marines to Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego County will end up costing more, at a time when the government is trying to save money.

“With all the money they’ve already put into El Toro, it seems like a waste to just close it,” he said.

The closure will also have a drastic impact on area businesses that rely on the thousands of civilian employees and service people at the base, said Marine Lt. Beth Carreiro, who estimated that the closure will mean a $235.7-million annual drain to the local economy.

The base closing will also impact countless retired service people, many of whom purchased homes and settled in south Orange County to be close to the base, she said.

Access to the officers club, the exchange, and offices where retired service people can conduct business relating to their pension and benefits has always been an implied promise, said Dalrymple, who said he moved to Laguna Hills in part to be closer to the El Toro base.

The base-closing recommendation must be sent to President Bill Clinton, who must then pass the list on to Congress, which has final approval but cannot make any changes to the list. Many, however, blamed Clinton for the recommendation and said he has not done enough to jump-start the economy in Southern California.

“If it wasn’t for California, he wouldn’t be President right now and what is he doing in return? Nothing,” fumed Anita Wysomierski of San Juan Capistrano, a civilian employee at the exchange.

Marine Maj. Gen. P. Drax Williams, commander of Marine air operations on the West Coast, was not issuing a statement on the recommendation Saturday, Carreiro said.

Tanya Muaau, 23, of Mission Viejo and her 3-year-old daughter, Michelle, sat on a shady bench at the exchange Saturday and lamented the base’s closing. But Muaau said she would like to remain optimistic and hold out hope that the Pentagon will change its mind.

“If money will be saved, perhaps it’s a good thing, but I’ll really miss El Toro,” said Muaau. “I grew up around the base and my dad was based here when I was a little girl. At least we’ll have a little more time to enjoy it.”