Exercises, Missile Testing Planned for Point Mugu

Hoping to fortify Point Mugu Navy base against future rounds of base closures, Navy officials today will announce ambitious plans to test the military’s hottest new defense missiles and conduct more training exercises with the Army and Air Force.

Leaders of Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station are offering the adjacent 36,000-square-mile ocean range to test new ship-fired missiles that can shoot down incoming ballistic missiles, similar to those used to fend off Iraqi Scuds.

And in what the base’s commander called “very large, long-range” plans for the Point Mugu Sea Range, the proposals include bringing in a flotilla of ships and aircraft to engage in training maneuvers in the open ocean on the far side of the Channel Islands.

“There’s a continuous downsizing,” said Capt. Stephen Beal, the base’s commander. “We wanted to get ahead of the game . . . . This enhances our capability.”

The proposals, which include plans to modernize portions of the base built just after World War II, are the latest to buttress Point Mugu against federal cutbacks. The ambitious agenda will be unveiled today in a Federal Register notice that announces the launching of a $3-million environmental study of the proposed changes.

Point Mugu’s plan comes as defense cuts continue to reduce the number of personnel at the base. The base dropped about 800 employees from its payrolls last year; it is now at a post-Cold War low of 6,834 military, civilian and contract workers.

Meanwhile, use of the Point Mugu Sea Range has fallen sharply. Only about 350 missiles are scheduled to be launched over the range this year, compared to about 1,500 annually in the mid-1980s.

Beal said that adding new types of missiles on the sea range would put Point Mugu on equal footing with other bases approved for such tests or working toward such approval.

The plans would allow the base to focus on the latest weapons and military strategies now in vogue. They are designed to defend U.S. warships in conflicts close to shorelines, rather than over the open ocean.

Point Mugu officials want to test the so-called Ballistic Theater Missile Defense, which has evolved from the Army’s Patriot missiles used to knock down Iraqi Scuds during the Persian Gulf War. Some defense missiles are tested at Point Mugu, Beal said, but the latest weaponry is handled elsewhere.

In addition, the Navy wants to add another joint training exercise with the Army and Air Force. Two such exercises take place each year on the Sea Range that stretches miles out into the Pacific Ocean.

Plans also include the construction of a pier on San Nicolas Island, a small Navy-owned island about 60-miles south of Point Mugu.

With the pier, Navy officials would be able to transport heavy equipment and supplies to the island year round. Aside from daily flights to the island, the Navy now relies on occasional barges that it runs ashore on a sandy beach to ferry heavy loads. Barge trips are sometimes stalled by bad weather.

Local officials cheered Point Mugu’s plans, saying it builds momentum in the wake of last month’s Senate defeat of President Clinton’s efforts to start another round of base closures. The plans also follow a Navy recommendation earlier this year to move a squadron of E-2C Hawkeye radar planes from San Diego to Point Mugu.

“This is a step in ensuring activity increases at the base,” said Nora Bomar, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley). “It strengthens our standing if there is another round of base closures.”

County Supervisor Frank Schillo said the Navy base has missed out on opportunities to increase use of the sea range because the costly environmental study has not been done. He said local officials would postpone talk of bringing commercial airline flights to the base in light of the new developments.

“It’s a real selling point for Mugu,” Schillo said of the plan to expand missile testing. “When opportunities arise, they can take advantage of it.”

The environmental study will determine the effects of the planned testing and training on air quality, marine life, noise levels and other impacts. Navy officials will hold meetings with residents to discuss the plans in Ventura County cities, Santa Barbara and Santa Monica next month.

Navy officials said they are combining the proposed increased missile tests, the training, and building plans into one environmental study to save money. The study is expected to cost $3 million to $4 million and be completed by the spring of 1999.

“We’re all under pressure to save dollars,” Beal said.