Hard-Hit Bay Area to Lose 2 More Navy Sites : Military: On last day, panel also spares an Oakland supply center. Job losses in region projected at 25,600.

In an unexpected act of compassion, the federal base closing commission voted Sunday to spare the Navy Supply Center in Oakland, but moments later decided to shut down two other facilities in the hard-hit Bay Area. The actions brought projected Bay Area job losses as the result of base cuts to 25,600.

Ending five days of hearings that wrought economic havoc throughout California’s once-invincible military Establishment, and much of the rest of the country, the presidential panel voted to close seven of the eight major bases in the state that the Pentagon said were no longer needed in the post-Cold War era.

By saving the supply center, the commission protected 3,900 military and civilian jobs. But it promptly added nearly 4,000 to the grim number of jobs imperiled in the Bay Area by voting to close the Oakland Naval Hospital and Navy Public Works Center in San Francisco.

Indirect job losses because of the base closures will mean thousands of other workers will be affected by the panel’s actions.

The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission had already voted to close the Alameda Naval Air Station, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Treasure Island Naval Station and the Alameda Naval Aviation Depot--all in the San Francisco-Oakland region.

Commissioner Harry C. McPherson, who pushed for the surprising reprieve of the supply center, said: “We’re shutting down thousands and thousands of jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is an extremely useful base . . . an unmatched producer of good quality, blue-collar jobs. We’ve hit ‘em hard enough. Let (the Navy) close it in ’95 if they can’t stand it.”

The next round of base closings is scheduled in two years, when many of the surviving bases will almost certainly be threatened as defense budgets continue to shrink.

The supply center was regarded as a near-certain closure victim after the Alameda naval base, which it serves, had been ordered closed. Commission Chairman James Courter, speaking just moments before McPherson’s impassioned defense of the center, said: “There’s no justification for keeping it open.” Yet the motion passed unanimously.

The Oakland Naval Hospital, with 2,100 military and civilian workers, was ordered closed after commissioners were reminded of the wealth of available health care in the Bay Area and the hospital’s age, physical condition and problems in complying with upgraded building codes.

Nationwide, only Charleston, S.C., and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan have suffered as much economic impact from the panel’s actions as the Bay Area.

On Saturday, the commission voted to close the Naval Training Center in San Diego and the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Orange County.

San Diego, where the Navy wants to establish a megaport, stands to enjoy a net gain of 15,000 jobs because it will attract many of the relocated military jobs from closed or realigned bases.

The El Toro closure forces the Marines to shift personnel and aircraft to several other California bases, although the base’s famous “Top Gun” jet fighter school will transfer to Nevada.

The commission’s list of actions must undergo legal scrutiny and is due on President Clinton’s desk by Thursday. Clinton has two weeks to approve the list and send it to Congress, which must pass a motion of disapproval in both houses or the commission’s list becomes law. No changes may be made.

Clinton can also bounce the list back to the commission, which would then have to resubmit its report by Aug. 15. In previous rounds of base closings, the commission’s recommendations have become law--although the decisions may be challenged in court.

In its fifth and final day, the commission took pity on Charleston, which had earlier been stripped of its naval base and shipyard. Bucking the Pentagon, the panel voted to consolidate several electronics commands at Charleston and spared the naval hospital there.

Recognizing the economic devastation the commission had visited on Charleston, Courter said ruefully: “It’s like sticking a knife in your back, pulling it halfway out and calling it progress.”

In another unexpectedly quick action, the commission approved a Navy plan to transfer 11,000 administrative personnel, many in leased offices, from the Washington area to other parts of the country.

The Navy’s Bureau of Personnel will relocate to Memphis, largely because the service wanted to downplay the command’s perceived East Coast bias.

For the most part, the commission backed Pentagon recommendations to close 31 major installations and realign 12 others. But in nearly 30 instances, the commission rejected the suggestions and went its own way. Many of the rejections were highly technical, but others departed significantly from the Defense Department wishes.

The commission refused to close Ft. McClellan in Alabama, the submarine base in Groton, Conn., and the hurricane-damaged Homestead Air Force Base in Florida. Its most independent action was to close Plattsburgh Air Force Base in New York, which the Air Force had designated as its major East Cost deployment base. Instead, the commission chose McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey because of its more central location. The Air Force had wanted to scale back McGuire.

Over the past three months, the panel put 73 additional bases on its review list, but the vast majority--including McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento and Long Beach Naval Shipyard--were spared.

In a quirk, one of the additions--the Marine air base in Tustin--was added in order to consider saving it. The base had been ordered closed two years ago but became a chess piece in several alternatives to closing the El Toro base.

The commission showed signs of irritability on Saturday as countless hours of studying arcane military reports took its toll. By contrast on Sunday, members were so efficient that their staff was barely able to record the proceedings. The panel at times used voice votes to hurry through a seemingly endless stream of motions.

“If you swallow, you could miss one,” said Commissioner Peter Bowman.

In addition to the seven major California bases, several smaller facilities were closed, realigned or relocated. The largest was March Air Force Base in Riverside County, which will become a reserve facility if the commission’s report is approved. Among the smaller ones was the San Francisco Public Works Center, approved for closure Sunday. It was not counted among the major Bay Area bases closed.