Base closure plans are still in the analysis phase and it's too early to speculate on what might happen, Gordon R. England, the 73rd secretary of the Navy, said during a press conference at the base.
"There has been no decision made," he said of the base closure process during a luncheon that followed his tour of the base. "Not one thing has been discussed with me. ... It's all just way too premature."
A Pentagon-mandated round of realignment and closure is set for 2005 to eliminate excess installations and allow the military to operate more efficiently. About 25 percent of the nation's bases are expected to be impacted.
When asked by Beaufort Mayor Bill Rauch why the Navy would decommission the air station's Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 82, The Marauders, instead of a squadron stationed at a more crowded base like Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Va., England, who is in charge of the Navy and the Marine Corps, was left with few answers.
"It's a combination of a lot of things," he said of the squadron's decommissioning, adding that he was "not the right guy" to answer the question. "I'll leave that to the military guys."
The Navy announced Aug. 5 that The Marauders would be decommissioned over the next 18 months as part of its Tactical Aircraft Integration plan to combine Navy and Marine Corps aviation. The Marauders will leave Beaufort in about two weeks for a deployment to the Western Pacific aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, having received about 30 days notice.
Rauch said he was surprised England couldn't answer his question and that he hopes the secretary would go through the proper channels to find an answer.
"He didn't really answer the question," Rauch said. "I would think he'd know the answer."
England did say the decommissioning of The Marauders, as well as the loss of the Angel One helicopter search and rescue unit, had nothing to do with the coming round of base closures.
The Pentagon announced last month that Angel One, which responds to military and civilian accidents, will be phased out by April 2005.
Search and rescue units are being shut down across the country due to cost and lack of use, England said.
"I don't believe it has any affect at all on (base closures)," England said. "This is not at all associated with (base closures)."
The secretary's visit was an opportunity to show off what the air station and the community have to offer the military, said retired Marine Corps Col. John Payne, chairman of the local Military Enhancement Committee, an off-shoot of the Greater Beaufort Chamber of Commerce.
"I think this base has a lot to offer that some bases on the East Coast do not offer," he said, making reference to ranges the air station owns and the base's room for expansion.
Rauch said the visit was important because England will play a significant role in the base closure process.
"You want to make sure he knows all the good things about Beaufort, in particular the unparalleled relationship between the community and the bases," the mayor said.
During his visit, England presented the Chief of Naval Operation Safety Award to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 312, The Checkerboards, and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal to Karine S. Thompson, an aviation machinist's made third class with The Marauders.