El Toro move will go in phases

Deepa Bharath

The Air National Guard base stationed in the city since 1950 will

gradually move to the closed El Toro Marine base, officials said

Friday.

The 222nd Combat Communications Squadron, adjoining the Bark Park

on Newport Boulevard near the Costa Mesa Freeway, will move in phases

to a 32-acre site at the northeast corner of El Toro over the next

two years, said Lt. Col. Gary Aten, a civil engineer with the Air

National Guard in Sacramento.

“We’re working with the Navy to make this move,” he said. “It will

take some time to renovate and remodel.”

The Costa Mesa-based squadron has 92 men and women assigned to it.

Twenty-eight served in the war with Iraq. They do not fly aircraft.

Their duty is to provide tactical communication capabilities,

including e-mail and Internet, to troops deployed overseas, Aten

said.

The unit needed to move primarily because of the development

around it that obstructs communication, he said.

“There’s the freeway, and there are several buildings and

apartment complexes,” Aten said. “When we first occupied that site,

there was very little development in that area, and it was easy for

the unit to do their communications.”

The group obviously needs more room now, he said.

The Air National Guard has already secured the federal approvals

needed for the move, Aten said.

“The next step will be to get federal funding,” he said.

The biggest challenge in the process has been to get approvals and

permits from various agencies, Aten said.

“It’s taken us six years to get here,” he said.

Aten said the Air National Guard has been talking with the city of

Costa Mesa, which wants to expand the Bark Park, as well as other

developers who have expressed interest in the property.

“It could be several months before we decide how to dispose of

that facility,” he said.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.