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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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."

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."

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.