August 25, 2005
NSA New Orleans to remain open
ALGIERS NAVY BASE WILL REMAIN OPEN
Louisiana's offer to build a "federal city" on the Naval Support Activity's Algiers campus at no cost to the Pentagon won approval Wednesday, keeping the base open to house the Marine Corps Reserve headquarters and other federal agencies.
But the decision was deemed by local officials as a partial victory, because the Base Realignment and Closure Commission approved the Defense Department's proposal to move the Naval Reserve headquarters, its personnel functions and more than 1,000 jobs out of New Orleans after more than a century in the city.
The loss of COMNAVRESFOR is indicative of how little influence our congressional delegation has these days. Landrieu and Jefferson are Democrats, and this administration won't give them the time of day. Vitter and Jindal are rookies who are lucky that people return their calls. I note with interest that the Portsmouth Naval Yard in Kittery, ME, and the sub base in New London, CT., were spared. That's the power of congressional seniority.
Still, we've made some gains. NAS New Orleans is benefitting from the closure of other facilities:
But the air station stands to gain the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 77, an E-2C Hawkeye unit, from the Naval Air Station in Atlanta, which the commission agreed should be closed.