The Navy just broke off its engagement of several months to the delightful San Francisco, dumping it for San Diego for the commission of its newest and most powerful warship, the Makin Island, now under construction in Mississippi. Navy Secretary Donald Winter nixed the plan.
A fancy commissioning ceremony committee, co-chaired by Schultz, Perry, Bechtel, and Feinstein, had been organizing an elaborate program for the summer of 2008 when the officers and crew formally take charge of the vessel. The Navy’s b.s. reason conveyed to the Chair, Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. J. Michael Myatt, was an impression that San Francisco is “anti-military.” Its factual support is too shallow to float a bar of soap: (1) the city’s refusal to provide a homeport for the Iowa to become a museum, (2) the school board’s cutting Junior ROTC training, and (3) a politician’s remarks.
Myatt reacted diplomatically.
There are lots of veterans living here…One in every nine members of the military now serving come from California. These people in Washington don’t understand.
The Navy has a following in the San Francisco area. Every year, the Blue Angels draw crowds in Fleet Week. A local company recently won a $2.5 Million contract from the Navy for software to train Surface Warfare Officers in simulators. Naval Station Treasure Island, a major facility since World War II, was closed in 1997. Moffett Field was closed as a base in 1994 and turned over to NASA.
Activity continues, though, northeast of San Francisco. At Suisun Bay floats the Mothball Fleet, about 78 cargo ships, tankers, victory ships, missile cruisers, barges, and tugboats, most of them maintained for possible future use in another career. The Coast Guard and the Marines use them for practice, e.g., firefighting.
We know what people in Washington do understand: San Francisco is overwhelmingly Democratic and San Diego is Republican. That’s it. Oh. And San Diego is home for a huge chunk of the Navy Secretary’s former company.
Navy Secretary Donald Winter is no mustang captain. Sworn into office in January 2006, Winter, who has a doctorate in physics, came from the executive offices of Northrop Grumman’s Mission Systems sector. Northrop Grumman is one of San Diego‘s largest defense contractors, with over 4,000 employees in seven corporate sectors located there.
In November Northrop Grumman received a contract from the Navy to supply lightweight, laser target designators (which determine the distance to a target and place precision guided munitions on an exact position). This week, the Navy announced the award of a $40.3 Million contract modification to Northrop Grumman, for continued work by the Electronic Systems-Marine Systems unit on the Navy’s fleet ballistic missile program. “If all options are exercised, the contract could be worth up to $139.2 million.” Good news for some: shares of Northrop went up sixteen cents.
Isn’t Northrop Grumman getting enough? The Navy doesn’t deserve such micromanagement with divisive politics. Send the guy to Suisun Bay and park him alongside a Liberty Ship.