Positive statements about the tremendous amount of community support the local yard has were also made by both groups of commissioners. They certainly are cause for a degree of optimism that the Portsmouth yard could wind up being taken off the closure list when the commission makes its final determination near the end of August.

However, the man who knows the most about the machinations involved in the BRAC process had some sobering words for shipyard supporters after the departure of this latest group of commissioners.

"Be careful not to read too much into what seem to be encouraging words," said Bill McDonough, director of the Save Our Shipyard advocacy group and a former Portsmouth Naval Shipyard commander.

McDonough reminded that the only function of the commission is to determine whether the Pentagon had deviated from its own criteria in putting the Portsmouth yard on the closure list. It cannot remove the shipyard from the list simply because it is efficient or because the commission likes the people who work there.

And proving deviation is no small task given the vagaries of the criteria. It will be remembered that when those standards were first announced, members of the Maine and New Hampshire congressional delegations fought to have them made more specific - and failed.

The commissioners agreed there are concerns about the Pentagon’s contention there are more shipyards and personnel available to do submarine overhauls, refuelings and repairs than are necessary now and will be needed in the future. However, the BRAC staff has been given only about a month to investigate this contention, and the Pentagon appears intent on making that investigation difficult, judging from its decision to prevent Adm. William Klemm (retired) from testifying on the shipyard’s behalf at the Boston BRAC hearings earlier this month.

This BRAC differs from all of the previous ones in that those were strictly aimed at cutting Department of Defense costs. This latest round, while also designed to cut costs, is also meant to "transform" the existing structure of our military to better engage this country’s current and future enemies.

The BRAC list these commissioners are currently debating was developed with an eye toward that transformation, and it is not the purview of this commission to second-guess the Pentagon on this issue.

Sadly, this transformation involves decreasing the number of public shipyards and streamlining the submarine overhaul process. And most of the innovations and efficiencies at the Portsmouth yard were developed by that terrific group of workers there, and those workers will undoubtedly be offered jobs at the three other nuclear shipyards the Pentagon intends to keep open.

Given that reality, it will be particularly hard for the commission to vote to retain a shipyard the Navy wants to close. It is not impossible, but, as members of our congressional delegations have repeatedly told us, it is a long shot.

The best we can do as citizens is continue to contact the commission as it begins its deliberations and show up at the Aug. 13 shipyard appreciation picnic at Pease to show our support. Beyond that, the process, at this point, is out of our control.

-Herald Sunday

Sunday July 31, 2005 Sunday Herald Editorial

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