Naval base supporters wary of closure

BRUNSWICK – Supporters of efforts to keep the Navy’s air station off the Pentagon’s base-closure list say they’re not reassured by the fact that the government has spent tens of millions of dollars upgrading the facility.

“It sure won’t be a decisive factor,” said retired Rear Adm. Harry Rich, a member of a task force in Brunswick that’s working to save the naval air station.

The Department of Defense next spring is to announce the closure of up to one-quarter of its 425 bases.

Rich, who formerly commanded every P-3 Orion squadron in the Atlantic, including those in Brunswick, said Brunswick may avoid being on the list, as it did in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995.

But he said Brunswick’s strategic significance will be more of a factor than how much has been spent upgrading the base.

Planes from the Brunswick station patrol the Atlantic Ocean. It is the only base of its kind north of Norfolk, Va.

The Navy has spent more than $100 million at Brunswick Naval Air Station during the past four years, building 126 housing units, a 500-bed barracks, and a six-bay hangar, upgrading utilities, and replacing old buildings with modern ones.

Between 1998 and 2004, average annual spending at Brunswick more than doubled to $19.6 million each year.

But the military also has a history of closing bases – including one in Maine – in which it has invested heavily.

During the 1980s, about $300 million was spent on upgrades at the Loring Air Force Base in Limestone. Improvements included a new, $25 million hospital at the former Strategic Air Command bomber base in January 1991.

A month later, Loring got orders to close, which it did in September 1994.

“You have to understand, logic doesn’t apply to the military,” said Augusta lawyer Severin Beliveau, who sought to keep the northern Maine base open.

“Ultimately, [the decision] was a combination of strategic military need and politics,” Beliveau said.

Outside of Maine, a former base commanded by Rich in Bermuda had just begun construction of a multimillion-dollar hangar when it was listed for closure. Workers continued with the project, even though a Navy aircraft would never spend a night there.