Form complete coverage throughout the day log on to Seacoastonline.com.

No one involved in the process is willing to make a prediction, but what we do know is that the efforts of Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon to set military policy through a process that was designed initially to find ways to save taxpayers money has left a bad taste in nearly everyone’s mouth.

And virtually everyone involved in the BRAC process, including the Government Accountability Office, the auditing arm of Congress, believes the amount of money expected to be saved by the closure of Portsmouth and the other 32 military bases on the Pentagon’s list has been overstated by at least 50 percent.

We will all see later today, or at the latest Thursday, whether these nine commissioners are as independent as we have been led to believe, or whether they will go along with the specious arguments put forth by the Pentagon and Navy officials. We certainly hope it is the former.

One thing has to be said for this process. Everything that shipyard supporters could have done to bring issues before the commission has been done. No one - not the Maine and New Hampshire congressional delegations, not Govs. John Lynch of New Hampshire and John Baldacci of Maine, not the local chambers of commerce, not the Save Our Shipyard task force, not the shipyard unions, not the workers and not the thousands of community supporters - could have done more to make the strongest case possible for keeping the yard open than they did.

Whatever the decision, no one will wake up tomorrow and say to themselves: "I should have done more." There is nothing more that could have been done, and the memory of those yellow T-shirts filling the conference center in Boston and the streets of Kittery will be indelibly etched in the memories of all who have been involved in this struggle.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the tens of thousands of men and women who have worked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard over the centuries. Patriots are not only found on the battlefield. They also can be seen working at drill presses and lathes, repairing battle-worn steel and loading nuclear fuel.

Win or lose, all those who have had a hand in maintaining the military readiness that has made America the last great superpower of the modern era deserve our respect and our thanks.

We hope they remain part of our community for a long time to come, but if that is not to be the case, we are proud to number them among our friends and relatives, and wish them all well in their future endeavors.

- Portsmouth Herald

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission will meet publicly today to deliberate the future of the 33 major military bases around the country the Pentagon has recommended for closure or major realignment. Each base will be considered and voted on individually.

Even at this late date, local officials and members of the Maine and New Hampshire congressional delegations are hesitant to offer a prediction on how the voting will go. It will take a vote of five of the nine commissioners to remove Portsmouth from the closure list.

McDonough said he did not know how other commissioners will vote, but said he doubted it will be a unanimous decision.

"I would say it’s 50-50; I just don’t know," McDonough said.

McDonough said he expected commissioners to vote on the yard by 5 p.m. today.

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said Tuesday he was "cautiously optimistic" about the vote.

"I think we’ve proven the Navy deviated from the BRAC criteria in putting Portsmouth on the closure list," he said.

Gregg said the two delegations have split up the BRAC commissioners and kept in contact with each one over the past several weeks. The senior New Hampshire senator said he believes all the commissioners have gotten the message.

"If you look at the questions the commissioners have been asking, particularly over the last several weeks, you will see that many of them are based on information we have supplied," Gregg said.

New Hampshire 1st District Congressman Jeb Bradley said he has no doubt the information the delegations, governors and shipyard supporters have forwarded to the commissioners has hit the mark.

"I’ve talked to a number of BRAC commissioners," Bradley said. "I asked if they needed any more information, and they all said they had everything they needed."

The congressman said he is reasonably certain the commissioners have concerns about whether there will be enough repair capacity for a future submarine fleet with Portsmouth closed, as well as whether the savings projected by the Pentagon are accurate.

"At least one member of the commission, the chairman, is taking a long, hard look at the capacity issue," Bradley said, referring to an article that appeared in Congressional Quarterly on Monday.

In that article, BRAC Commission Chairman Anthony Principi offered what CQ reporter John M. Donnelly called "a spirited defense" of the Portsmouth yard. That gave credibility to what Donnelly said were rumors circulating among consultants and others familiar with the process that Portsmouth might be spared.

"Today it is estimated we probably have about 25 percent excess capacity in our public shipyards," Principi told the Capitol Hill newspaper. "But if you close down Portsmouth, you reduce that excess capacity to somewhere between 5 and 8 percent.

"We have to look out at a horizon over 20 years to 2025," the BRAC chairman said. "When we look at emerging regional threats, uncertainty as to the number of submarines that we’ll have in the future, it gives us some pause for concern."

Principi called Portsmouth the "preeminent shipyard in this nation" and "the gold standard by which we should measure productivity and management-labor relationships," but he also again pointed to the excess capacity issue.

BRAC VOTE REACTION

• If the vote is taken before 7 p.m. today: Within an hour of the decision, The Save Our Shipyard Task Force, local politicians and shipyard workers will gather outside the shipyard’s Gate 1 for a news conference.

• If the vote is taken after 7 p.m. today: The press conference will be held outside Gate 1 at 9 a.m. Thursday. The New Hampshire congressional delegation will also hold a news conference outside Gate 1 at 10 a.m.

• If the vote is taken on Thursday: The news conference will be held within an hour of the decision outside Gate 1.

• The Kittery Town Council news conference outside of Traip Academy has been canceled. Councilors will join the group outside Gate 1.
  

By Emily Aronson and Shir Haberman
news@seacoastonline.com

Retired Capt. Bill McDonough, a former Portsmouth Naval Shipyard commander, said the association is not sending representatives to this week’s final Base Realignment and Closure hearings in Washington D.C.

Instead, shipyard supporters will stay at home and watch the hearings on C-SPAN2, waiting for the BRAC Commission’s vote on whether to remove the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard from the recommended base-closure list.

McDonough said he expects the commission will vote on the Portsmouth yard by late morning or early afternoon Wednesday.

Once the vote is announced, McDonough said yard supporters will begin organizing in front of Gate 1 at the shipyard. McDonough said he expects the informal event to begin two hours after the announcement in order to give enough time for people from across Maine and New Hampshire to arrive.

"We don’t know what the results are going to be," he said. "We’re hoping it’s going to be a happy occasion."

McDonough said the association’s board of directors will meet today at 4 p.m. at the Town Hall in Kittery, Maine, to finalize details for the Gate 1 gathering.

As of Monday, McDonough said the association has not contacted New Hampshire and Maine’s gubernatorial and congressional delegation to see if they will join supporters outside Gate 1. He said, however, he expected local politicians from Kittery and Portsmouth to attend the event.

The BRAC Commission hearings are scheduled to start on Wednesday at 8 a.m. and go through Saturday, if need be.

"It’s going to go as long as it takes," BRAC Commission spokesman Robert McCreary said Monday.

McCreary said commissioners will vote on each installation by branch of military service in the following order: Army, Navy, Air Force and Joint Cross Service.

The Kittery Town Council announced on Monday it will hold a news conference at Traip Academy two hours after the BRAC Commission vote. In the event the announcement is made after 5 p.m., the news conference will be held at 9 a.m. the next day.

YOU'LL KNOW AS SOON AS WE DO

Supporters of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard expect to find out Wednesday whether the base will remain designated for closure. The Herald plans to report the news immediately at www.seacoastonline.com.

On TV: Hearings will be televised live on C-SPAN2. They are scheduled to run from Wednesday to Friday, but could go into Saturday. They will run 8 a.m. - noon, 1-5 p.m. and 7-10 p.m. daily.

By Emily Aronson
earonson@seacoastonline.com

The 92-page letter, sent to BRAC Commission Chairman Anthony Principi on Tuesday, outlined arguments for each of the DOD’s base realignment and closure recommendations.

Retired Navy Capt. William McDonough, a former commander of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, said the section of the letter addressing the local shipyard appears to be a final-hour attempt to sway commissioners who are thinking about keeping the shipyard open.

At issue, the DOD letter stated, is that "the commission is considering retention" of the shipyard "based on perceived Force Structure and capacity issues presented by congressional and community representatives."

"The Department of Defense strongly endorses the current recommendation to close Portsmouth Naval Shipyard," the letter concluded.

The department dismissed arguments made by congressional and community leaders that the Navy does not have excess capacity and that work currently done at Portsmouth cannot be absorbed by the remaining shipyards.

"Excess capacity increases each year as workload requirement decreases throughout the closure period," the department argued. "In (fiscal year 2009), aggregated excess capacity will be greater than 17 percent overall in three remaining shipyards."

The letter said any risks involved with closing the shipyard would be "manageable," and that keeping the facility open "would obligate the department to significant future costs."

Although the letter acknowledged that the commission is considering keeping the yard open, McDonough said he still feels "very apprehensive" about next week’s hearings in Washington, D.C.

McDonough said he’s worried commissioners will put more stock in the Defense Department’s opinion than in the arguments made by shipyard supporters because the DOD is the supposed expert.

The commission hearings are scheduled for Aug. 24-26. McDonough said he expects the commission to vote by Aug. 25 on whether to remove Portsmouth from the base closure list. The commission’s final recommendations will be sent to President Bush on Sept. 8.

By Emily Aronson
earonson@seacoastonline.com

On Saturday, men, women and children created yet another "ocean of yellow" in their Save Our Shipyard T-shirts at a picnic at Pease International Tradeport, in an effort to support the yard over the next nine days. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission is expected to make its decision on the yard’s fate later this month.

Some of their arguments seem to have been heard, as commission members have reportedly raised concerns recently over many of the Defense Department’s recommendations.

The commission is expected to begin deliberations on the fate of the yard and the dozens of other major military installations targeted for closure on Aug 24.

According to the Times, the commission has directed its staff to conduct a separate cost-savings analysis before that date.

Meanwhile, shipyard supporters said they will just have to wait, knowing they have done everything within their power to show the Defense Department was wrong in recommending the yard for closure.

"It’s still an uphill battle, but we know the case has been made," Rep. Jeb Bradley said Saturday during the picnic event. "This is an opportunity for the Save Our Shipyard task force to thank all the people who have worked to hard."

Shipyard workers and their families mingled on the lawn at Pease. Johnnie Bubar and the Rogue Wolf Band, the Late Great Planet Earth, Joe Freda and Dennis Boyd and professional bikers from the Maximum Velocity Bike Show provided entertainment on the hot summer day.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci, who attended the event, said Saturday was a moment for shipyard supporters to "re-charge the battery" before supporting the yard over the next week and a half.

"We’ve made an impression on the commission," Baldacci said. "We still have nine days left. The campaign is not over."

Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., asked the crowd, "Are you hot enough yet?

"Because over the past couple months, we’ve made sure the BRAC Commission felt the heat as well."

Sununu said he felt as though the Seacoast residents and shipyard workers have made an "incredibly strong case."

"Now it’s time for the commission to make the right decision," Sununu said.

Shipyard union president Paul O’Connor agreed and said Saturday was an opportunity to express gratitude to all those who made the fight what it’s been.

"We didn’t want to go from July to August 24 without an event," O’Connor said. "We wanted to keep people’s mind on (the yard). But this is also a time for us to relax and just have fun."

O’Connor cited the yard’s citation for being efficient and effective.

"We’re the best in the world," he told the crowd. "I was raised to believe that stands for something."

Tom Nichols traveled to the picnic with his wife from Manchester. Nichols does not work at the yard, and he doesn’t even know anyone who does, but he’s been supporting it all along.

"This could devastate not just our economy but also these families," Nichols said.

The livelihood of families who are affected may not be a factor in the Defense Department’s decisions, but how much it costs to close an installation and how much it will save is an important factor.

The Defense Department has estimated it will cost $448.43 million to close the facility, which will result in the savings of $1.26 billion over the next 20 years.

Meanwhile, commissioners told the New York Times some of those numbers don’t seem to add up.

"I fail to see at this point how you could arrive at the figures they arrived at," Anthony J. Principi, a former secretary of veterans affairs who is the commission chairman, told the New York Times. "We’re going through this effort to save money from excess capacity to modernize forces. If the savings aren’t there, and it costs money to do this on top of all the economic upheaval, why are we doing this?"

By Elizabeth Kenny
ekenny@seacoastonline.com

"Pride has a lot to do with it," Scully said. "I’m very proud of the fact that I was able to work on the shipyard all those years, and I’m proud of my work."

Scully, 71, worked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for 39 years. He retired as the head of investigations and security services in 1994.

"It’s just easy to get involved in this fight," Scully said. "It’s a family place to work, and it provided for me and my family."

Will his efforts make a difference in the next week and a half when the Base Realignment and Closure Commission determines the fate of the yard?

"I hope so," Scully said during an interview at a diner last week.

On May 13, the U.S. Department of Defense released a list of military installations recommended for closure, including the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which employs more than 4,800.

For the past three months, members of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission have been reviewing the list to determine whether the Defense Department "substantially deviated" from its closure criteria.

The commission is expected to deliberate on the shipyard and the dozens of other installations that were recommended for closure beginning Aug. 24.

Not a day goes by that Scully doesn’t work toward helping the yard by arguing on the shipyard’s behalf.

Capt. Bill McDonough, former commander of the shipyard and spokesman for the Seacoast Shipyard Association, called Scully a "real work horse."

"It’s been hectic, but it’s for a good cause," Scully said.

Scully called his wife a "saint" for putting up with his schedule the past three months.

He said it’s been easy to continue the chaotic battle to save the yard.

"I can see we are making headway," he said. "Plus, I’d like to think that anyone in my position would do the same thing."

No matter the outcome, Scully said he will forever feel a connection to the yard. It has been in his life for more than four decades.

"Today there is a small percent of people going into the work force who will work at the same corporation for 40 years."

By Elizabeth Kenny
ekenny@seacoastonline.com

Editor’s note: This is one in a series of Monday profiles on shipyard workers and their loved ones and how their lives have changed since the Defense Department recommended the closure of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Ealier Profiles:
John Joyal is at center of rally to save shipyard

McDonoughs´ mission: Keep the shipyard open

Yard closure would scatter local family

Yard a home to vets

Worried yard workers ‘all in the same boat’

Kittery couple sees shipyard work as means to help end world hunger

Shifting his roots

Young shipyard advocate

Welder finds a purpose in life: His job at shipyard

The commission members have tentatively scheduled their public deliberative sessions for Aug. 24-26, he explained.

McDonough made that prediction during the final SOS task force meeting before Saturday’s scheduled shipyard support picnic at the Pease International Tradeport. The picnic will be the last opportunity for community residents and shipyard workers to demonstrate their support for keeping the base open.

"It will be a carry-it-in, carry-it-out event," McDonough said.

The free event will feature entertainment including musical performances by The Late Great Planet Earth, Johnny Bubar and the Wolf Band, Dennis Boyd, Joe Freda and others. There will also be several shows by "Maximum Velocity Bike Show" featuring BMX stunt riders.

Those attending are encouraged to wear their yellow "Save Our Shipyard" T-shirts. T-shirts also will be available at the event.

The picnic is one of a series of community events that shipyard workers and their supporters have staged since the Defense Department recommended the 205-year-old yard’s closure on May 13.

On June 1, nearly 8,000 shipyard supporters lined the streets of Kittery, Maine, to welcome four members of the base closure commission who had come to tour the yard.

On July 6, a sea of yellow T-shirts hit the road, with thousands descending upon the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center for a base closure commission hearing.

Most recently, on July 26, a few thousand shipyard supporters rallied on Walker Street in Kittery, Maine, to greet two more commissioners who had come to tour the yard.

Portsmouth Herald Staff and Wire reports

GO & DO

What: Save Our Shipyard-sponsored picnic to support the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

When: 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Where: Open field off Corporate Drive across from the Redhook Brewery at Pease International Tradeport.

Details: Participants are asked to bring cold lunches rather than grills or other cooking gear.

From yelling through a bullhorn to energize thousands of shipyard supporters and organizing advocacy events, Joyal always puts himself front and center.

But it’s not for himself, he said this week, when reflecting on the future of the shipyard and the more than 4,800 employees who work there.

Joyal’s referring to the shipyard’s 200 years of history, which he said he believes is critical in protecting and defending America.

For the past 29 years, Joyal, 49, has worked at the yard as a training instructor in the welding field.

"I’m one of three people that train, familiarize and qualify the best welders in the world to work on nuclear submarines," the Somersworth resident said.

If he sounds proud, it’s because he is.

It’s that pride that gives him the energy to spend anywhere from one to three hours each day watching and reading the latest news on the Defense Department’s recommended closure of the yard.

He said he knows the issue, and feels obligated to defend the shipyard and take a stand in keeping it open.

His work has made him famous at the yard. Joyal estimated that "83 percent of the people (who work at the yard) probably know who I am."

During the recent interview, however, Joyal had a calm, quiet manner. He would lean back in his chair when talking about the Defense Department’s "flawed data" before leaning forward again, discussing how everything that happens somehow relates to politics.

He wore his yellow Save Our Shipyard T-shirt and often reflected on all the "hats" he has worn since working at the yard.

"I like being involved," he said. "Everything I do as an American citizen is based on my love and devotion to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard."

Joyal said that by recommending the closure of the Portsmouth yard, the Defense Department is playing "Russian roulette with our national security."

"I’m fearful for my kids’ future," he said of his two children.

For now, Joyal said, he’ll remain cautiously optimistic, watching the news and taking hold of the bullhorn when the moment arises.

By Elizabeth Kenny
ekenny@seacoastonline.com

Editor’s note: This is one in a series of Monday profiles on shipyard workers and their loved ones and how their lives have changed since the Defense Department recommended the closure of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Ealier Profiles:

McDonoughs´ mission: Keep the shipyard open

Yard closure would scatter local family

Yard a home to vets

Worried yard workers ‘all in the same boat’

Kittery couple sees shipyard work as means to help end world hunger

Shifting his roots

Young shipyard advocate

Welder finds a purpose in life: His job at shipyard

Shipyard advocates said Wayne Arny, acting deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for installations and facilities, planned a visit during the coming week to analyze the cost of environmental cleanup operations if the shipyard closes as the Pentagon recommends.

"It’s one less issue to deal with," Paul O’Connor, president of the Metal Trades Council at the shipyard, told the Portsmouth Herald on Saturday. "It’s not like it’s a victory, just one less problem."

A policy adviser to Maine Gov. John Baldacci said his boss was "quite disappointed" when he heard of Arny’s planned visit, saying it was similar to having "the verdict issued before the trial is completed."

"(Arny’s) office said they understood the position of the governor’s office," Lance Boucher said.

In a joint statement, the Maine and New Hampshire congressional delegations said canceling the trip was appropriate.

Arny’s trip "would have presupposed the findings of the independent BRAC Commission, which continues to review information provided by the delegation and community groups that shows substantial deviation from the BRAC selection criteria," the statement said.

Other advocates said they were wary of the visit, even though the trip could have been a positive sign that the Navy is revisiting its figures.

"It’s either very late or extremely premature for someone to be doing that sort of analysis," said Dick Ingram, one of the chairmen of the Save Our Shipyard task force.

O’Connor said Arny’s visit was solely to put a value on the shipyard’s holdings.

"His function in this capacity would be that of a glorified real estate broker," O’Connor said. "If the commissioners keep us on the list, which I hope they don’t, come back after that."

Former shipyard commander Capt. Bill McDonough said he also thought it was positive that Arny would not visit.

"I’m very pleased he’s not coming because he was one of the key players in the team that made the recommendation to close us," McDonough said. "His visit would be to try and reinforce the position that it doesn’t cost much to clean up a place like us. But we’ve found many flaws to their (estimated) cost-type savings."

Portsmouth Herald Staff and wire reports

O’Connor said that just prior to leaving the shipyard for the news conference at Portsmouth City Hall, he and other workers were told that Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment Wayne Arny would be visiting the yard next week. Arny’s mission in visiting Portsmouth, O’Connor said he was told, was to evaluate the yard’s facilities and the environmental costs of closure.

The union president noted the decision to close the yard had not yet been made by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission or approved by President Bush and Congress.

O’Connor wondered why the Pentagon could not wait the three weeks until the BRAC Commission compiles the recommendations it will make to the president before sending Arny not only to the Portsmouth, but to the Brunswick Naval Air Station in Maine and the submarine base in New London, Conn. The Pentagon has recommended all three facilities for closure or major downsizing.

"He is not working for BRAC, he is working for the Navy," O’Connor said. "This is not an assessment of data. (Arny’s) function is to implement the BRAC decisions, so why do this before those decisions are made?"

Navy spokeswoman Lt. Christine Ventresca confirmed that Arny would be visiting Portsmouth, but she declined to say when. O’Connor believes it will be Tuesday.

"Mr. Arny expects to visit a variety of bases in the Northeast to discuss the mission of the bases and various installation and environmental issues," Ventresca said. "The BRAC process is still ongoing, and no final decisions will be made until fact-finding by the commission, the president and Congress is complete."

The Navy’s Web site says Arny’s duties include oversight of environmental programs. That encompasses conservation of natural and cultural programs, clean up of contaminated sites and pollution prevention of installation and facilities programs, including BRAC disposal.

By Shir Haberman
shaberman@seacoastonline.com

Also from Today's Herald:
Messages of shipyard support
In yet another indication of the amount of community support for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Mayor Evelyn Sirrell on Thursday handed U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley, R-N.H., petitions containing approximately 1,000 signatures and 400 letters urging the president to save the local shipyard.

"This is a very large, very challenging, very complex problem," the senator said during a brief stop at Kittery Town Hall to meet with members of the Save Our Shipyard task force. "Without the support of this community we wouldn’t be where we are today, and that is that we have been able to make a strong, compelling case to the (Base Realignment and Closure) Commission."

Noting there are 33 major military bases that have been recommended for closure by the Pentagon, Sununu said the community, SOS, shipyard workers and the delegations working together have been able to move discussions about the Portsmouth yard forward.

The job of the delegation will be to keep issues concerning the local shipyard before the nine commissioners and BRAC staff members for the next 2½ weeks, until the commission makes its own recommendations to President Bush. The SOS group intends to stay visible as well.

Dick Ingram, the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce president and an SOS task force member, has arranged transportation and accommodations in New York City for Aug. 11 and 12 for approximately a dozen shipyard supporters. Dressed in their yellow T-shirts, the group plan to appear in the forefront of the crowd when weatherman Al Roker does his street interviews on "The Today Show" Friday morning.

Ingram said he has connected with the people who do promotions for the popular morning show in order to gain more national recognition for the plight of the Portsmouth yard.

"Since this is a political thing, they can’t require Al Roker to talk to us, but they can lead him in our direction," Ingram said.

Asked whether it was worth the price of sending a dozen people to New York just to get a few minutes of air time on "The Today Show," SOS member and Portsmouth chamber Business Development Manager Ginny Griffith said she believed it was.

"We have gained a lot of public awareness through our efforts, some of which were large, such as an 8,500-person rally, and some of which were small," she said.

Shipyard worker Don Hands pointed to the base closure criteria as justification for spending the several thousand dollars it would take to get the group to New York.

"One of the parameters the BRAC people are looking at is community support," Hands said. "We’re showing them national support."

The day following the planned TV appearance, Ingram and the others will be back in the Seacoast at the Shipyard Appreciation and Old Time Family Picnic planned for Saturday, Aug. 13, from 2 to 5 p.m., at Pease International Tradeport. Live bands and a BMX bicycle stunt team will entertain what is expected to be a huge crowd of shipyard supporters at the event.

Sununu said he will be there, along with Maine Gov. John Baldacci and New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch.

The following week - Monday, Aug. 22, and Tuesday, Aug. 23 - the commission will publicly deliberate in Washington and create its own list of proposed closure and realignment recommendations for submission to President Bush on Sept. 8.

By Shir Haberman
shaberman@seacoastonline.com

Also from Today's Herald:
Snowe blocks promotion
Sen. Olympia Snowe on Wednesday declined to confirm reports that she has blocked the nomination of Gordon England to the No. 2 Pentagon job because she is frustrated over the Pentagon’s base closure recommendations.

PORTLAND, Maine - President Bush said he understands what's at stake in Maine during the latest round of base closings and that he'll take a "close look" at the final list that's presented to him by Sept. 8.

But Bush also stressed he will not let politics enter into the matter, saying, "What I'm not going to do is politicize the process. That's important for people to understand."

"I understand this is difficult," Bush said during a round-table discussion at the White House with reporters from eight regional newspapers, including the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram. "I know Maine fairly well. It's a fantastic place. It's difficult for folks."

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission must submit a final list of closures, which Bush and Congress can either accept or reject, but not change.

Bush said that as governor of Texas, he pressed to keep open bases that were slated for closure in his state. So he said he understands why Maine Gov. John Baldacci and the state's congressional delegation are standing up for their bases.

But at the same time, Bush said, the Cold War is over and fewer troops are needed.

"This country faces different threats," Bush said. "We believe we can achieve the objectives of stability and security with fewer troops and different equipment alignments."

In other issues, Bush promoted energy legislation he expects to sign next week, threatened to veto pending legislation to expand embryonic stem-cell research and praised the Medicare prescription-drug benefit.

On the war in Iraq, he insisted that progress is being made, but said that setting a timetable for withdrawing American troops would invite terrorists to wait.

"As the Iraqis stand up, we'll stand down," Bush said.

On July 19, retired Rear Adm. William Klemm, the former deputy commander for logistics, maintenance and industrial operations for Naval Sea Systems Command, told the Base Realignment and Closure Commission staff that Portsmouth shouldn’t be closed unless the Navy is prepared to build three new dry docks somewhere else.

"The point is you can have as many people as you want, but you can’t do the work unless you have the dry docks to do the work in," Klemm was quoted as saying in a transcript of his testimony located on the BRAC Web site (www.brac.gov.). "You can surge (move materials and manpower around) or pay overtime as much as you want, but if you don’t have the dry docks, the boats don’t get fixed."

"This directly affects operation readiness," Klemm said. "I’m surprised Admiral Willard tried to mislead the commission into thinking that overtime would get work done, but forgot to mention that he will need dry docks to do the work in."

The Pentagon, citing a conflict of interest, forbade Klemm from testifying at the July 6 BRAC hearings in Boston. The Department of Defense’s attorneys claimed Klemm’s involvement in the base-closure process precluded him from testifying on behalf of any facility on the closure list.

New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg was outraged at the Pentagon’s actions. Gregg said that Klemm’s testimony would have been "devastating to the Navy case, because of his expertise and because of the fact that his points went to all the criteria ... and, refuted, basically, the Navy position on all these criteria points, and showed substantial deviation (from the criteria)."

However, the prepared statement Klemm was going to make at the Boston hearing was obtained and subsequently printed in the Portsmouth Herald (read it online here).

Although not commenting on his involvement in the BRAC process, Klemm warned that Portsmouth’s closure would eliminate surge capacity in the Navy shipyards, because of the loss of skilled workers.

He also described how Portsmouth is the lead shipyard in the improvement of submarine maintenance processes, improvements that are then extended to the Navy’s other three shipyards. These improvements are, in part, a product of the culture of the work force.

"That culture cannot be exported or replicated, it is imbedded in the generations of people who work at this facility," Klemm testified. "Therefore, the loss of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard equates to an irreplaceable loss of the culture and skill sets of innovation and efficiency."

Klemm further warned that the Navy’s three remaining shipyards - in Norfolk, Va., Puget Sound, Wash., and Pearl Harbor in Hawaii - do not have the capacity nor the resources needed to perform submarine maintenance activities within the prescribed periods of the service lives of the submarines in the fleet.

"Faced with the inability to accomplish this work, the Navy will have to keep submarines pierside in non-operational status until skilled artisans and dry docks become available or schedule them for inactivation." He warned that this will result in a reduction of the size of the submarine fleet "through a backlog of maintenance actions over the next five years."

This was not the first time Klemm had mentioned the negative consequences of closing the Portsmouth yard. He had warned of the problems inherent in closing Portsmouth during the BRAC process itself.

According to the minutes of the Nov. 18, 2004, meeting of the Pentagon’s Industrial Joint Cross Service Group, Klemm said that calculations had determined that closing Portsmouth would leave 1.4 million labor hours of workload that could not be absorbed by the other three shipyards. He stated that these calculations, based on the 2005 20-year force structure plan, "preclude the closure of Portsmouth, unless its three dry docks are replicated at another shipyard."

Klemm said the chairman of the IJCSG, Michael Wynn, then-acting undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics, asked Klemm’s subgroup to perform additional analysis to see if it was possible to replicate Portsmouth’s workload at other shipyards before making a final decision on the merits of closing it. But there is no evidence that the additional analysis was ever completed and submitted to the IJCSG; or that the Pentagon ever figured out how to include Portsmouth’s efficiency in its "military value calculations," according to Klemm. Klemm raised the issue in another IJCSG meeting on Jan. 6, 2005, the testimony on the BRAC site said.

Yet, the IJCSG decided to put Portsmouth on the closure list, without any proposal to replicate its three dry docks at the remaining shipyards, Klemm said. Thus, it will be the "justifying" plan to cut the Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet in the future, according to Klemm.

By Shir Haberman
shaberman@seacoastonline.com

Deadline near for Save Our Shipyard petitions

PORTSMOUTH - It now appears that neither of the two commissioners who have not yet visited the Portsmouth shipyard - former Utah Congressman James Hansen and the former commander of U.S. Southern Command, retired Army Gen. James Hill - will make it here before the Aug. 5 deadline for commission visits to bases recommended for closure and realignment.

However, several events are scheduled for the weeks before the commission ends its deliberations and prepares its own list for the president on Aug. 22-23.

Residents are being urged to deliver their Save Our Shipyard petitions to the following locations on or before Aug. 3 at 3 p.m.

• Mayor’s office, 1 Junkins Ave., Portsmouth.

• York Chamber of Commerce, Route 1, York, Maine.

• Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, Market Street Extension, Portsmouth.

• The home of Save Our Shipyard director Capt. William McDonough, 132 Rogers Road, Kittery, Maine.

• SOS Task Force Meeting, Kittery Town Hall, Rogers Road, Kittery, Maine.

Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., will attend the Aug. 3, SOS meeting at 3:30 p.m. to update the task force on the status of the fight to save the shipyard. U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley, R-N.H., will join Portsmouth Mayor Evelyn Sirrell for a press conference on Thursday, Aug. 4, at 2 p.m., to accept the letters and petitions the mayor has collected on behalf of the shipyard, which he will deliver to Washington.

A shipyard appreciation picnic has been scheduled at Pease International Tradeport for Saturday, Aug. 13, from 2 to 5 p.m.

- Shir Haberman

Amid the sea of shipyard supporters, there is always one man who quietly stands out, a man almost every shipyard worker recognizes for his relentless efforts to save the yard from closing for the past 12 years.

For all the blood, sweat and tears Bill McDonough has put into the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, his wife of 55 years stands beside him.

The couple lived on the yard from 1971 until 1979, when Bill was stationed there. He later served as its commander. When he retired from the Navy, the McDonoughs became permanent Kittery residents. Their home is less than a mile from one of the yard’s gates.

A few of their daughters are married to men who worked at the yard, and now some of the McDonoughs’ grandchildren are employed by the nation’s oldest shipyard. So when it was first threatened in 1993, Bill says the only option was to step up to the plate and become the leader in working to save the yard from closing. For three rounds of the Defense Department’s base realignment and closure process, Bill has provided the expertise behind the fight to keep the yard open.

On May 13, that fight came to another level, when the yard was recommended for closure by the Defense Department, a move that threatens more than 4,800 workers and the McDonough family. Bill has taken on the role of spokesman for the Seacoast Shipyard Association, the yard’s advocacy group. He’s been interviewed and quoted in hundreds of articles for publications ranging from the Portsmouth Herald to the Washington Post. He also sits on the Save Our Shipyard task force.

Nancy is the silent partner. Wearing her yellow Save Our Shipyard T-shirt, she often sits in the back of meetings. She answers the flood of phone calls from the congressional delegation and the press. She marks the calendar with important dates, and when things get really bad, she heads to the kitchen and cooks. Bill calls his wife "one of the victims," of the Defense Department’s recommendation to close the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

"Because it has not been an easy few months since the list came out," he says.

"We try hard," Nancy says, with a smile, of her marriage.

They have accumulated many memories over the years. When they met in 1946, at Milne High School in New York, they knew they wanted to have a large family.

What they didn’t know was that family would consist of seven daughters, most of who were born in different cities, depending on where Bill was stationed in the Navy.

"We’ve made it this far," Nancy says, laughing. "Some days I wondered, but we’ve made it this far."

"We went through seven colleges, seven marriages," Bill says of his daughters.

Now, their fireplace mantle is lined with the framed photographs of their 19 grandchildren. When asked how it was raising seven daughters, Bill says, "It’s easy."

"Oh, baloney," Nancy shouts.

Now that their daughters are grown, the past 12 of their 55 years together have centered on the fight to keep the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard open.

They’ve made it through other tough times, and they feel confident they’ll make it through this.

"He’s gone basically all the time," Nancy says. "If we make it through this, we’ll make it."

She paused for a moment, before asking, "Right, Bill?"

Her husband looks at her, smiles and says, "That’s correct."

By Elizabeth Kenny
ekenny@seacoastonline.com

This is one in a series of Monday profiles in the Portsmouth Herald on shipyard workers and their loved ones and how their lives have changed since the Defense Department recommended the closure of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Ealier Profiles:
Yard closure would scatter local family
Yard a home to vets
Worried yard workers ‘all in the same boat’
Kittery couple sees shipyard work as means to help end world hunger
Shifting his roots
Young shipyard advocate
Welder finds a purpose in life: His job at shipyard