Petty Officer Philip Dobbs, left, and Chief Petty Officer Erik Swanson unveiled a plaque yesterday honoring Navy SEAL James "Gator" Parks, pioneer of submersibles used by special warfare sailors, at the dedication of SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One headquarters on the Pearl City peninsula.
Isle senators optimistic
of gaining Navy carrier
Pearl Harbor is still the prime candidate to be the next home of a Pacific-based nuclear aircraft carrier, say Hawaii's two U.S. senators.
But Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka say the key lies with use of the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station, now called Kalaeloa, as the home of an accompanying carrier air wing, and how its accompanying jet noise would affect Leeward Oahu residents.
"Guam doesn't have that problem," Akaka told reporters yesterday.
U.S. Pacific Fleet Adm. Walter Doran also has told local business leaders that Pearl Harbor is the most logical place in the Pacific to base an aircraft carrier and its accompanying air wing. Doran's staff has already talked with the Federal Aviation Administration after officials raised concerns about the use of Kalaeloa for C-17 Globemaster cargo jets to practice short landings and takeoffs.
A spokesman for Doran declined to discuss the Navy's talks with the FAA. Both the FAA and the state Department of Transportation objected to the number of proposed flights.
Inouye said any shortcomings raised by placing up to 100 jets and other aircraft at Kalaeloa "can be addressed and resolved."
"As far as I am concerned, we're No. 1," Inouye told the Star-Bulletin.
Navy SEALs yesterday displayed a torpedo-shaped, 22-foot-long submersible designed to be used by covert Navy special warfare teams.
Doran has also indicated that Pearl Harbor has an edge over Guam because of the high costs of developing facilities there. His staff last fall last began a yearlong, $1.8 million study on what improvements would be needed to homeport a carrier at Pearl Harbor.A carrier, which would bring 12,000 to 15,000 more sailors to the islands, is expected to generate upward of $333 million a year in personal income.
Navy helicopter, A4 Skyhawk, F4 Phantom and F18 Hornet jet fighter and P3 Orion subhunter squadrons operated out of the Barbers Point Naval Air Station before it was closed in 1999.
Akaka was the guest speaker yesterday at the official opening of a $47 million headquarters and maintenance complex for SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One on the Pearl City peninsula.
The unit -- 45 officers and 230 enlisted sailors -- moved to Ford Island from San Diego in June 1994. Construction on the 22-acre Pearl City site began two years ago and was completed in February. One of its first new buildings is a 326,000-gallon, 20-foot-deep freshwater test tank.
Akaka said the Navy would like another $30 million to rebuild Victory Pier 2 to facilitate the loading and unloading of its 65-foot minisub and five 22-foot-long submersibles used by Navy SEALs.
Akaka said he may be able to get the money approved for military spending planned for next fiscal year.
In his remarks, Akaka noted the Pearl Harbor special operations unit "has transformed effectively to meet the changing threats."
SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One has the Navy's only Advanced Seal Delivery System vehicle -- a cross between a submarine and a submersible. It can carry up to 17 Navy special warfare swimmers -- SEALS -- keeping them dry until they are close to shore.
The unit also maintains five smaller 22-foot-long submersibles that are mounted on the deck of nuclear attack submarines.
