Point Mugu to Cut Up to 250 Civilian Jobs

Officials at the Point Mugu Naval Air Station have announced the elimination of as many as 250 civilian positions in the next six months as part of a broad reorganization designed to modernize the fleet.

“Our work is changing. . . . We’re done developing bomb casings, and we’re on to precision missiles, which requires different skills,” said Capt. Barry Ormsbee, vice commander of the Naval Air Weapons Center, Weapons Division. “We’ve had to look toward the future and see where we’ll be, and what that’s shown us is that our skills are going to have to change.”

The reorganization, which is to be completed by November, also will entail merging the administrations of Point Mugu and the nearby Naval Construction Battalion Center at Port Hueneme. Each base will keep its name, but the facility as a whole will be called Naval Base Ventura County.

Point Mugu, which employs more than 2,000 civilians, is one of the Navy’s primary research, development and testing centers for air weapons.

Officials said the positions to be cut will include a wide range of jobs, from computer engineers to mechanics. Efforts are underway to place those employees in positions inside and outside the military.

The cuts are part of a much larger shift in naval resources.

Aiming to decrease base operating expenses by 10%, President Clinton and Secretary of Defense William Cohen have proposed two rounds of base closures to begin in 2001 and 2003.

A total of 427 positions in the Navy’s weapons division will be eliminated, resulting in layoffs at China Lake, White Sands and Point Mugu, officials said.

Area representatives and Navy officials were confident that the streamlining and the base’s new status as Pacific Fleet headquarters would keep Point Mugu intact during another round of base closures.

“If a base doesn’t play a vital role in the strategic needs of the nation, it shouldn’t be there,” said Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Simi Valley.

“I think it’s evident that the strategic needs of the Navy are dependent on Mugu.”

Last year, it became the base for the Navy’s E-2 Air Wing, creating more than 1,200 technical and logistical support jobs.

However, stagnant military budgets have forced the Navy to cut personnel for increased efficiency, Ormsbee said.

Area representatives expressed sympathy for those who may be laid off, but said the action would benefit both the Navy and Ventura County.

“The good news is that we have more jobs there than we did a year ago and thousands more than we did two years ago,” said Gallegly, who was instrumental in bringing the E-2s to the county. “But the bad news is that if you’re one of those people who have to leave, it wouldn’t matter if we brought in 100,000 new jobs.”

Ventura County Supervisor John Flynn said he’s known for some time that job cuts would come and hoped the Navy would do all it could to find other positions for displaced employees.

“It’s not great news, but at least there is some balance with all that’s been added there,” he said. “What’s good is that with these layoffs, the Navy may have hit bottom and will start to rebuild soon.”