Feinstein Urges Pentagon to Ignore Point Mugu Report : Military: Senator’s letter to defense official says a study advising substantial closure of the Navy base is flawed and meddlesome.

Rallying to the defense of Point Mugu’s Navy base, Sen. Dianne Feinstein is urging Pentagon officials to ignore what she calls a flawed report that recommends closing most of the base and scattering its operations to other military installations.

Feinstein sent a letter Wednesday to Deputy Defense Secretary John M. Deutch, suggesting that he instruct all military personnel considering bases for closure to disregard the report.

She specifically claimed that the Defense Department inspector general’s report spreads inaccurate information and meddles in the official base closure and realignment (BRAC) process now under way at the Pentagon.

Defense Department spokesman Glenn Flood said there would be no immediate comment on Feinstein’s letter. “We haven’t seen it,” he said.

The report Feinstein targeted recommends moving most of Point Mugu’s missile-testing operations to its sister base at China Lake, about 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles in the upper Mojave Desert.

The report, made public by The Times on Sunday, contends that the consolidation would eliminate overlapping programs at the two bases and save taxpayers $1.7 billion over the next 20 years. It projects no savings in the first six years because of $518 million needed to move equipment and 3,000 employees. Another 1,049 jobs would be eliminated.

The Navy has sharply criticized the report, alleging a number of inaccurate assumptions and cost projections. For example, Assistant Navy Secretary Nora Slatkin has taken issue with the thesis that the Navy exempted Point Mugu from proper scrutiny during 1993’s round of base closures.

In a memo to the inspector general, Slatkin also criticized the report for unfairly singling out a Navy base for closure without considering all military installations as required by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act.

Slatkin believes the inspector general’s report should not be allowed to influence the decision on which bases should close.

But the inspector general’s office said it has a legitimate role in the base-closure process and has forwarded the 57-page report to key officials in the office of the secretary of defense.

Noting Slatkin’s objections, Feinstein wrote that it seems inappropriate for the inspector general to focus only on Navy test facilities when Pentagon leaders are promoting the possible joint use of bases by the Army, Air Force and Navy.

“I believe that the entire concept of such a report is flawed because it reviews Navy test facilities alone, without taking into account other Defense Department activities,” Feinstein wrote.

The senator’s intervention was applauded by Ventura County officials and business leaders who have raised more than $200,000 and hired a Washington, D.C., lobbyist to protect the county’s two Navy bases and their 20,000 related jobs.

Supervisor John K. Flynn, who talked to Feinstein about her letter, said he was impressed by her determination to neutralize the inspector general’s report and fight another devastating round of base closures in California.

“She is going to work very, very hard with Ventura County to keep our bases,” Flynn said.

And Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) said he was glad to hear that Feinstein has added her voice to the effort. He has sent similar letters to Pentagon officials, questioning the legitimacy of the report.

“I’m pleased that we are both focusing in the same direction,” Gallegly said.

Navy and Pentagon officials are now weighing which bases to offer for sacrifice in the fourth and final round of base closures ordered by Congress.

In March, Defense Secretary William Perry is scheduled to forward a recommended hit list of bases to a federally appointed commission for final review.

Adm. Dana B. McKinney, commander of Point Mugu and China Lake bases, said he is bracing for cuts as deep as the combined base closures of 1988, 1991 and 1993.

“It will be as painful as all of the previous ones,” McKinney said. “We’ve gone through 15% downsizing so far. This one is going to be another 15% cut to the base infrastructure.”

Although McKinney is based at China Lake, he stresses that he strongly supports keeping Point Mugu open.

“Point Mugu is about 50% of my entire command,” McKinney said. “I have no intent to get rid of Mugu to save China Lake. That is not in the cards.”