We've heard a lot about the Bush power grab before leaving office. The administration is trying to push through as much of its agenda as it can before leaving office at noon on January 20th. They've tried interfering with women's health care decisions, eviscerating environmental regulations, raising Medicaid co-pays for poor women, and weakening FMLA. But there are other political agendas the administration is trying to ram through that aren't getting as much publicity. Like, actions within the military.
Virginia has more military installations than I can possibly list in this post. There are more than 850,000 veterans living in Virginia, as well as around a million military family members. The Hampton Roads area of Virginia, where I live, is home to the country's largest concentration of military personnel, military families, and retired military in the United States. Hampton Roads is home to the world's largest Naval base, the Navy's master jet base, and is headquarters for the Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic.
What does all that mean? It means we had, until recently, 6 aircraft carrier groups stationed here. That dropped down to 5 in 2008, when the USS George Washington was sent to Japan. However, we're about to add a new carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, the last Nimitz Class Carrier to be built. Each aircraft carrier stationed here is thought to bring more than 650 million dollars and 11,000 jobs into the local economy each year.
So what's the problem? Well, it seems that "the military" has decided that it would be nice to move the USS Bush down to Jacksonville, Florida. They have a couple of rationales. The first is that it is a mistake to base all of the East Coast's aircraft carriers in one place, in the event that another "Pearl Harbor" were to occur. On our East Coast. Without us noticing. Again. Uh huh. The second is that a natural disaster like a hurricane could wipe out the fleet.
There are a few problems with this logic.
First and foremost is that all five of the carriers are NEVER here at one time. We don't have enough carriers in our Navy. As a result, most of them are deployed at any one time. You'd be lucky to find one here at any given point in time.
The other problem? Well, aircraft carriers carry, well, aircraft.
Jets. Fighter jets. Guess where they're all stationed? Here. At the
Navy's master jet base at Oceana in Virginia Beach. Oceana is the only
Navy jet base left on the East Coast. There used to be one at Cecil
Field in Florida, but Florida is now building condos and businesses on
it. It doesn't belong to the military anymore. It's gone, baby. You can't just fly the jets somewhere else and
park them. It costs a lot of money and a lot of planning to get a jet
base up and running. So all of those jets would have to fly back and
forth from Oceana to Jacksonville. That makes tons of sense.
There's also a little problem with money. As in, we don't have enough of it right now. The USS Bush is a nuclear powered aircraft carrier. That means, like the jets, you can't just pull it up to any pier and park it. The Navy estimates it would cost about $600 million to renovate and upgrade the Jacksonville base so that it could handle the Bush. That's a lot of money that we just don't have.
So you're asking where the politics comes in? Well, first of all, the USS Bush isn't even complete. It's only about 97% complete, but that 3% is rather important on a ship containing 60,000 tons of steel. The Bush hasn't even completed its sea trials, but it was commissioned yesterday so that George W. Bush could give the speech for the ship named in honor of his father. I can understand that, but it's only the beginning.
You see, when word leaked out that the Navy was moving the Bush to Florida, the military insisted in public statements that it had not yet made a decision. However, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has already sent a letter to Senator Jim Webb explaining that they had already made the decision to move the carrier. But the DoD is apparently now "going through the motions" of doing an economic impact study and all of that.
Florida is lobbying hard for this carrier. Very hard. It makes emotional sense that Georgie wants to send his dad's carrier to his brother's state. But decisions like this, that affect thousands of people's lives and jobs, should not be made because it would be "nice" for Jeb to get his dad's boat. (Luckily, he had the good sense not to come to the commissioning ceremony with the rest of his family yesterday. That would have been a bit tacky - like the new trophy wife coming into the house to inventory the silver before the divorce papers are even signed.)
At the commissioning ceremony yesterday, Governor Kaine came as close as he possibly could to smacking the Bushes across the face in an attempt to remind them what the Navy means to Virginia. And what Virginia means to the military. I wanted to stand up and cheer, but I fear that the message didn't quite get across to its intended recipients.
Here's what Tim Kaine said:
I'd like to welcome all to Norfolk and the Norfolk Naval base, which is the largest naval base in this world. ... It is truly a magnificent facility. It is a proud day for Virginia today as we commission the USS George HW Bush. On behalf of the commonwealth, I extended my heartiest congratulations to the many members of the commissioning crew, to the ship building team and to all who have worked to make this day take place. .... This ship proves that the American workers and the Virginia workers who worked at the shipyard in Newport News in the shipyard to build this ship are second to none.
I admit to a bias, a pro-Virginia bias in this regard, but I think I can safely say that there is no state whose history, whose present and whose future is more tied up with and more supportive of the military than the Commonwealth of Virginia. Our tens of thousands of Virginians in active service, the tens of thousands of non-Virginians who are in Virginia deployed at the numerous installations in our Commonwealth, our reserve members, the members of the Virginia guard and air guard, that I have the fortune to command, military families, civilian DoD employees, military contractors. And 850,000 veterans. This is a state that reveres and venerates military service and that is why the crowd of Virginians here today is so strong.
We are proud of our military connections and proud of this day. We all extend our gratitude to all who currently serve in harm's way in all of our service branches, especially on this special day with those in the Navy. And that is a tradition of this state that is a strong and bipartisan tradition that will continue. We face challenging times at home and abroad, but our ingenuity and the strength of our military is ever a reason why we should be confident and optimistic.
(Emphasis added).
Governor Kaine gave the Bushes and the military powers-that-be sitting on that stage, a nice reminder of how important the military is to Virginia and of how much Virginia does for the military. If GWB didn't get the message, he's more of an idiot than I thought. And if Robert Gates didn't get it, he was sleeping through the ceremony and using Barbara Bush's hair as a shield.
While Kaine had the good manners not to directly bring up the attempted last minute Bushie shenanigans with our newest carrier, I was kind of hoping he'd just turn around, drop trou, and pee on the ship right then and there. We might as well mark our territory while the boat is still here in Virginia. In fact, I hope the crew is busy christening it as I type.
Stephanie is not normally a big fan of public urination, unless it involves one of her toddler boys and an absence of bathroom facilities. She tries to avoid writing about bodily functions over at her personal blog, Lawyer Mama. She's also much more diplomatic about military matters when acting as the Director for New Media and Outreach for Blue Star Families.
A few comments: 1) the stationing of a military asset such as a carrier should be made for logistical and tactical reasons...not political reasons. Please note that I am not naive enough to believe politics don't play a part. 2) Jet fighters do not need to be stationed near their carrier base. When a carrier approaches (100's of miles away) its home base its aircraft leave and fly to a repair facility for maintenance/repair. While it may seem expensive, that trip is insignificant to the number of sorties flown monthly by each aircraft. 3) I find no reason to consider the number of military families in Virginia in making a home-porting decision.
Posted by: George | January 12, 2009 at 12:20 PM
Yes, it should be made for logistical & tactical reasons. But when those turn out to be bunk, it's entirely appropriate to look at the economic impact of a move like this. Unfortunately, I'm convinced that in this case, it is entirely political.
Posted by: Lawyer Mama | January 12, 2009 at 02:27 PM
You're forgetting one critical reason for the decision to send "GWHBush" south -- Virginia went blue for the first time in 44 years......
Posted by: Torry Clark | January 12, 2009 at 07:04 PM
How could I have forgotten to mention that we're being taught a lesson!?!
Posted by: Lawyer Mama | January 12, 2009 at 07:08 PM
1) Aircraft carriers are strategic, not tactical.
2) All a bunch of bullshit reasons to move the ship (not boat, submarines are boats) to Florida... butter up the Floridians to vote Republican next time around)
3) I'm getting a little tired of Republicans giving inappropriate names to our ships. We even have one called the Raphael Semmes who was a Confederate blockade runner. Great, Naming ships after traitors to the United States. What's next, the USS Nathan Bedfor Forrest?
Posted by: Gunfighter | January 13, 2009 at 03:41 AM
WOW, what a bunch of selfish no-nothing's in here. "We want ALL the Carriers here...wahhhhh!!! " And what stupid rationale that the Airbase is in VA, not FL. Wanna take a GUESS how long it takes a jet to fly TO a Carrier from land? Heck, they could fly out of freaking Montana to WHEREVER, It doesn't Matter!! Get off your democrat horsey for just once and don't try talking about something your only Half aware of, the Wrong half.
As for the Name of the ship, AMAZING. You even whine about that. Not one bit of respect for a man that served his country and was CINC. Well I PRAY to God they never name anything bigger than a Porta-Jon after Obama. That would be a good name for something full of Barrack. "BHOles"
Posted by: TRUTH | January 13, 2009 at 05:16 PM
I thinnkn "Truth" is about to be disemvoweled. We don't call you neocon, racist, whiny conservatives do we? Oops. Guess I just did....
Posted by: Lauren | January 13, 2009 at 05:48 PM
Exactly, it is either your way, or else it is Extreme or Racist or Radical or Conspiracy Theorist. Conservatives are all out to ruin the country, while you just want the socialist government to do it ALL for you. Well guess what, your about to get your wishes. Hold onto your lugnuts, it's TIME for an Overhaul!
Posted by: TRUTH | January 13, 2009 at 07:17 PM
Great post Steph! I am not convinced of the reasoning given for the move of the carrier to Florida. I agree that national security should be first and foremost in the minds of those making the decisions and that doesn't seem to be the case so far. Nothing in the comments section here from the dissenters has changed that either. It has nothing to do with my politics and everything to do with my common sense. None of the rationale given so far has held water. The lack of evidence to support the expense of preparation for docking a nuclear carrier and all that entails, and security reasons (strategic or tactical) are more than a little troubling. It will be interesting to see what happens. Whatever it is, I'm open to it as long as it really does benefit our military strength and readiness. Those in Florida who cried foul at getting an airfield but now want a Carrier don't seem to have the same mindset.
Posted by: progressivegal | January 14, 2009 at 07:38 AM