D.C. Return Planned by Base Lobby Delegation : Navy: Ventura County group will continue its push next month for Point Mugu and Port Hueneme facilities.

With its lobbying effort winding to a close today, a delegation from Ventura County already is planning a return trip here next month to continue driving home its message that the entire nation would suffer militarily if the county’s two Navy bases are closed or consolidated.

After spending the first day inside the Pentagon, the group moved Thursday to a series of meetings with supportive staffers on Capitol Hill in a continued push to keep the bases at Point Mugu and Port Hueneme off the closure list.

The so-called BRAC ’95 Task Force--named for the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission--has spent more time talking about military strategy than the dire effects to Ventura County’s economy should either base close. Task force members hope the approach will appeal to Pentagon decision-makers and differentiate the county from other communities’ lobbying efforts.

The most frustrating part of the visit, members of the delegation say, has been the lack of immediate feedback and the prospect of not knowing the results of their efforts until Defense Secretary William Perry releases his base hit list in the spring.

“I feel pretty much the same as when I first arrived--concerned,” said Supervisor John K. Flynn. “I still don’t know how our bases will fare.”

The group, led by Flynn and county Supervisor Maggie Kildee, has deliberately avoided lecturing admirals and deputy defense secretaries on how their decisions might devastate the Ventura County economy. Instead, they brought with them technical experts who thoroughly know the bases.

The group prepared comprehensive briefing papers and stressed the county’s one-of-a-kind geography, including the proximity of the Channel Islands, a deep-water port and a peak packed with radar equipment that rises up nearly 1,500 feet from the Point Mugu base.

Besides the looming deadline--a list of endangered bases will emerge in the spring--the delegation has faced another reality: They hardly are the only community to push their case in the capital.

While the Ventura County group attempted to save bases at Point Mugu and Port Hueneme, a separate group from the Indian Wells Valley spent the week here defending the Naval War Air Force Center at China Lake. Delegations from Monterey, Sacramento, Long Beach and Barstow have made recent visits too.

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission has seen roughly 100 community groups, chambers of commerce, city councils and other groups traipse through its doors in the past year.

“The only way we’re going to be successful is to show that these bases have unique defense capabilities,” explained former U. S. Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura), who came along to offer his knowledge of the Washington scene. “We have to know our facts.”

Even before it was over, the group was talking of a return visit in late January, saying that such a follow-up will be essential as Pentagon officials are in the final stages of delivering their recommendations.

Thursday was spent huddling with staffers for Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and Reps. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) and Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills), all of whom support the bases.

Gallegly hosted a lunch at the members-only Capitol Hill Club, a Republican gathering spot, and the delegation reconvened for dinner with its Washington lobbyists and other advisers at a restaurant near the Capitol.

“The point of today is to make sure the (congressional) delegation knows our strategy and give them the information we’ve compiled,” Flynn said. “Theoretically, this whole base closing process excludes the White House and Congress, but we’re covering all our bases.”

Nobody knows for sure whether a trip to Washington affects the base closure process a bit. Groups have come out here and lost their bases. Others have stayed home and survived.

One person who has listened to the community groups in the past is Jo Ann Miller, a former assistant secretary of the Air Force and Army. Now an aide to Gov. Pete Wilson, she is fighting to save California’s bases. She says the group from Ventura County did the right thing.

“A community that does not make a visit would be at a disadvantage--especially if there were erroneous information in any of the reports,” said Miller, who spent 11 years in the Pentagon. “It’s definitely worth the trip because once something gets in the report, you’d be hellbent on getting it out.”

The trip winds up today with a meeting with staffers for the base-closure commission, the group that will submit the fateful list of proposed base closings to President Clinton next year.

When Congress gets the commission’s recommendations, it can vote the entire list up or down but cannot tamper with individual bases, a change in the law designed to keep the process as free from political influence as possible.

The ultimate decision has huge financial stakes for the county: The Navy funnels $1.5 billion a year into the two locations and employs about 20,000 people.