Lucky to dodge base closure bullet

Mike McGill

Great news for those hoping to keep our military bases open: Los

Alamitos and Seal Beach both escaped the Defense Department’s base

realignment and closure list and will remain open for at least a few

more years.

Although the Department of Defense has not included these bases on

the list and Congress could now add them to the list over the next

few weeks, this event seems highly unlikely, as it has not been done

before.

What was the threat?

If either of these bases closed in this cycle, both facilities

were likely to be targets of a civilian airport use. While this

effort potentially to have flights land over Huntington Beach and

Westminster and take off over parts of Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Los

Alamitos and west Garden Grove would face a poor chance of success,

the interim legal and economic cost to our communities would have

been significant.

Ironically, the potential of a civilian airport was possibly

greater for Seal Beach than it was at Los Alamitos, due to the

greater size of the base in Seal Beach.

Why does this threat exist?

Many transportation, governmental and business groups in Southern

California recognize that there is a growing shortage of airport

space. The loss of El Toro, the limitations of John Wayne Airport and

the growing population all point to a need for more flights. The Seal

Beach Weapons Station or Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base

could prove to be a tempting choice to these groups.

How did they survive the closure?

It’s speculative, at best, to guess why the closure committee kept

them off the list. Los Alamitos probably escaped due to its diverse

role in our national defense. It’s the largest California National

Guard facility south of Coalinga, in central California. It is

designated by the state of California and Federal Emergency

Management Agency as the primary emergency response center in case of

a disaster in the Los Angeles and Orange county basins.

Located in an urban area of more than 10 million people and within

10 miles of the Los Angeles/Long Beach ports, this strategic airfield

facility is vital and unique to our homeland defense in Southern

California.

Seal Beach is a “one-of-a-kind” facility that stores and loads

munitions on U.S. Navy ships for the West Coast.

What’s the possible future?

The need for the Army to keep the base in Los Alamitos may at some

point diminish over the years, making it vulnerable, but California

cannot afford to lose all of this facility. At that point, the state

possibly might engage in offering some acreage to keep the airfield,

National Guard unit facilities and state emergency response center

capabilities intact. These specific roles will never leave this area.

Seal Beach may lose its value in time through technology.

Ammunition has improved over the last 60 years since this base was

built. Naval ammunition today is more stable and resilient to

temperature, corrosion and “trauma” than it was in the 1940s.

Transportation and packaging methods have improved by leaps and

bounds. It is possible to envision a Navy of the future that can

safely load ammunition by rail to the Navy docks of San Diego and

Coronado. This scenario could possibly exist in the next few years.

What does this mean to our cities?

This closure process was a good dry run for our future. The

concern of a civilian airport use for these two facilities will

likely not be an issue the next time base realignment considerations

return. Most pundits predict that decisions will have been made about

the future of civilian airport needs in the next few years.

These decisions will be made soon not because of political

leadership, but because of a strong economic need.

Discussion and debate about the future of these bases needs to

start in the “cool of the morning” when reasoned discussions may

offer solid, well thought-out ideas about development ideas and allow

time to thoroughly investigate jurisdictional issues through the

county offices.

Until then, the surrounding cities will continue to support our

military and work with them to assist them in their efforts to serve

our country, while helping each other continue to be good neighbors.

Who do we thank?

A long list: The first group we like to thank are the soldiers and

sailors who drill as reservists on these bases. They represent the

best of our ideals of patriotism, hard work and much sacrifice

(especially among their families here at home).

The California Council on Base Retention formed by our governor

deserves thanks. They organized our communities and lobbied the

Department of Defense with a message of unified support of our bases

from our communities.

The mayors and city councils of the surrounding communities

(Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, Garden Grove, Seal Beach, Cypress,

La Palma, Westminster and Rossmoor) came together on this issue and

all passed a letter of support for keeping these two bases open.

* MIKE MCGILL is the mayor of Cypress. To contribute to “Sounding

Off” e-mail us at hbindependent@latimes.com or fax us at (714)

966-4667.