Shipyard has powerful
allies, mayor says

The Pentagon's and Navy's senior leadership agree on the need to retain Pearl Harbor as a mid-Pacific shipyard repair facility, says Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

Hannemann leaves tomorrow for a short trip to Washington, D.C., to lend support to the coalition of political, military, labor, business and community leaders fighting to keep Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard open. The mayor expressed his concern in a letter yesterday to Anthony Principi, chairman of the nine-member Base Realignment and Closure commission.

Hannemann will spend three days in Washington attending a BRAC public hearing Monday in the U.S. capital and also a session the next day when the fate of Pearl Harbor will be determined.

"Even before Japan's attack on Hawaii, Pearl Harbor was America's Gibraltar of the Pacific, a strategic port for our armed forces and a cornerstone of our nation's defense," Hannemann said. "Pearl Harbor's importance has not diminished since."

Hannemann added, "At a time when the United States is actively bolstering its forces to meet challenges in Asia and Southeast Asia, it is vitally important that the U.S. Navy have the capability to repair and maintain all classes of ships, including aircraft carriers, at a secure, efficient shipyard on American soil in the heart of the Pacific."

Hannemann referred to the proposal for the Navy to relocate one of its 12 aircraft carriers from the West Coast to Pearl Harbor.

"If the Navy decides to assign another carrier group to the Pacific, Pearl Harbor's capabilities can only gain in strategic value," the mayor wrote. "The shipyard's forward presence will give the military an accessible outpost sufficiently distant from regional hot spots for safety, yet offer the full repair and maintenance services otherwise available only at West Coast facilities 2,500 miles farther away."

Yesterday, the Pentagon, through acting Deputy Secretary Gordon England, responded to Principi, who in a July 1 letter wanted to know why Pearl Harbor was rated over Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire and Maine. The Pentagon recommended closing the Portsmouth shipyard in its May 13 recommendations of base closures.

Although Pearl Harbor's scores were lower than Portsmouth's, Pearl Harbor's "critical geographical location, adjacent to a significant portion of the fleet and forward positioned in the central Pacific, combined with its capability to dock a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, provided a higher overall military value to the department," England's report said.

Pearl Harbor shipyard is Hawaii's largest industrial employer, with nearly 4,300 civilians and a payroll last year of $385 million. The shipyard has an estimated annual economic impact of $1.3 billion.

A final recommendation by the BRAC commission is due Sept. 8 and will be forwarded to Congress.