PORTLAND – A top Pentagon official told Gov. John Baldacci and the state’s congressional delegation in a letter that Brunswick Naval Air Station is “an important part of our national defense capability.”

The letter from Vice Chief of Naval Operations R.F. Willard laid out the Pentagon’s argument for retaining a scaled-back air base in Brunswick because of its strategic location.

It was similar to another letter two weeks ago from Ann Rathmell Davis, an assistant to the Navy secretary on base realignment and closure issues, to Sen. Susan Collins.

Willard wrote that the airfield is needed for homeland security, for refueling of aircraft and as a logistics hub for the central and northern commands. “Brunswick continues to be the optimal site in New England for P-3 (aircraft) detachment operations,” he wrote.

The letter arrived a day after the Base Realignment and Closure Commission held a public meeting on Brunswick Naval Air Station.

The Maine delegation plans to submit the letter to the commission as further evidence of the Brunswick Naval Air Station’s importance to homeland security. “The Defense Department has made our case for us,” the delegation said in a statement.

The Pentagon proposed eliminating all P-3 Orion squadrons and half of the military personnel and relocating them to Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida.

But the Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted to consider the option of closing the base altogether. The panel is expected to begin voting on the week of Aug. 22. Its final recommendations are due to President Bush on Sept. 8.