Base May Again Be in Danger of Closing, Mugu Boosters Warn

Point Mugu Navy base is again in danger of closure unless quick action is taken locally to persuade federal officials and the Pentagon of the base’s strategic importance, local boosters said Friday.

After a briefing on developments in Washington, county officials said the next round of base closures is expected in 1999 or 2001.

“It still looks pretty gloomy for Point Mugu, and that is why it is so important to have the community supporting the Navy base and actively pursuing it,” said Supervisor John Flynn, chairman of the Regional Defense Partnership-21, a lobbying committee for the base.

Committee members were told by a Washington consultant Friday that unless local leaders aggressively move to expand the base’s capabilities and partnerships with private industry to reduce costs, “Mugu is in serious trouble.”

A package of laws to implement the next round of base closures is already completed. The next step is for Congress to approve the package and begin looking at closure targets as soon as February 1999, Flynn said the committee was told.

Congress will decide whether the base-closure debate should be done internally by the Pentagon or in open hearings such as in the first three rounds of base closings.

Point Mugu, one of the county’s largest employers with about 8,200 workers, was initially recommended for closure in 1995, but narrowly survived.

New talks of Point Mugu closing could hurt the base’s chances of getting four E-2C Hawkeye reconnaissance squadrons based in San Diego, acknowledged Cpt. Stephen Beal, commanding officer at the Naval Air Weapons Station at Point Mugu.

“The innuendo about our future” doesn’t help the base’s chances of receiving the squadrons from the Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, he said. “Certainly, Point Mugu is being looked at for its pros and its cons.”

Still, others such as Congressman Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) said they are doing their best to mobilize the community to form a forceful voice to back Point Mugu and bring in the E-2 squadrons.

“We need to promote Mugu and we can’t rely on the Navy to do it all. I have had three meetings with Adm. Clemins and he has been very receptive,” said Gallegly, referring to Archie Clemins, the Navy’s commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, who will make the decision on the E-2 squadrons.

That decision is expected by the end of the month, Beal said.

In addition to the E-2 decision, a public hearing is scheduled April 30 in Camarillo on the location of FA-18 E/F Hornet fighters still on the production line. Lemoore Naval Air Station in the Central Valley is considered the first choice for the new fighters, Beal said.

“If they can’t go to Lemoore, then we would like them to come to Mugu,” Beal said.

Gallegly and other committee members said increasing partnerships with private industries, particularly in engineering and scientific research to reduce costs, is vital to securing Point Mugu’s future.

Committee members are now in a partnership with the newly created Economic Development Collaborative of Ventura County, which includes a variety of industries to help transform the base from strictly military functions to some civilian uses.

On Friday, it was even suggested that Point Mugu officials consider allowing a private company to run the base to save money. A Navy base in Indiana, which was on the closure list during the last round, is now run by Hughes Aircraft.

“I’m positive about our future,” Beal said. “There are some hard decisions to be made. . . . I can’t guarantee things myself but we are certainly being proactive.”