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IN THE MILITARY

Navy commissary work
to begin next month

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

A El Paso company has been awarded the $49 million contract to build a new Navy commissary and exchange near Pearl Harbor.

Groundbreaking is expected to take place next month with construction scheduled to be completed by summer. The contractor is C.F. Jordan.

The current 98,000-square foot exchange will be replaced by a two-story 270,000 square foot retail facility. The commissary, or supermarket, will expand from 39,500 square feet to 91,000 square feet. It will feature a delicatessen, bakery and fish market.

Rear Adm. Albert Konetzni, Pacific Fleet Submarine Force commander at Pearl Harbor, has been nominated for his third star and will be assigned as deputy commander and chief of staff for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk, Va.

The U.S. Postal Service will issue a new first class postage stamp in May honoring veterans.

The stamp was designed by Carl Herrman of Carlsbad, Calif., and features a photograph of the American flag. The phrase "Honoring Veterans" is at the top of the stamp and the phrase "Continuing to Serve" appears at the bottom.

Rear Adm. Charles Kubic, commander of the Pacific Division of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, has received his second star in a special frocking ceremony, which allows a person to assume a higher position and wear the rank, but without the higher pay, prior to actual promotion.

He will gain all benefits when one of five two-star civil engineer corps positions becomes available. Kubic was nominated for his second star on Jan. 31 by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate last month.

NBC has "West Wing," but CBS is banking on a new TV series called "Pentagon," with former Reagan-era Navy Secretary James Webb as a scriptwriter.

It would seem that Webb's background as a staunch conservative will counterbalance the more liberal leanings of "West Wing."

There also are reports that Republican presidential hopeful George W. Bush is considering former Navy and Dallas Cowboy quarterback Roger Staubach as his secretary of the Navy.