Why Groton?
Subsunk comments on the BRAC results for Groton.
Rotten Groton is the logical place to cut if you as CNO want to really reduce the Submarine Force. My old commodore thinks that is what is behind it. I think we had to cut somewhere, and we’re sending more subs to be forward deployed (Guam — any permanently in La Mad nowadays????), and we have fewer anyway, so we’d bust cut the ones where the channel isn’t deep enough for Seawolf anyway.
(I don’t see anyone asking to build infrastructure for La Madd–we don’t need much of a sub presence in the Med really. Guam made sense because it put boats a lot closer to where they were going to work–a time distance thing that raised optempo without as much cost to the ships or crews.)
I didn’t gather enough information to make an informed blather, but here’s a gut reaction as to the reasons Groton’s on the BRAC.
- we’ve got the same number of bases and less than half the number of SSNs as we used to
- the base just barely missed BRAC the last time around, even before the current CNO was in the billet
- the crews must go down to Norfolk to train; the boats must go to VACAPES or further south to train and operate with the rest of the Navy.
- Despite enormous pressure from the LANT side, the sub force is looking towards the Pacific. CSL’s three stars notwithsatnding, the old way of “LANT gets as many subs as PAC and PAC fills C5F needs” has gone into the ash heap. It used to be you had as many boats operating in the Med as you did in the entire Pacific, and Lant boats never went through the Suez.
More on the local reaction to the Groton closing at the New London Day. The economy never recovered after the last round of BRAC, and that was just a reduction. Of course, in government a final decision is merely an opening to negotiation, so now comes the power struggle to enforce the decision.
Some of the best commentary on all of the BRAC blogosphere-wise is over at Smash’s place.
5 Responses to “Why Groton?”
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May 14th, 2005 at 12:56 pm
It’s easy to pull up inter-community warfare to explain almost anything.
I learned as a JG from LCDR Ray Hennesey, the Engineer Officer, and a mustang, that we are all in it together. His predecessor was all for the Engineering Dept first, regardless of any other consideration (and was an ED who weaselled into taking a line billet, to look towards the EDs taking over those billets altogether), so when Ray was a total ship engineer, I was taken back. The rusting out deck drain in a fan room outside my radio shack (properly entered in the work center maintenance logs) was worthy of a crewing out of the DCA on the spot during ZOne Inspection, as were the many other issues.
I later had a GSCS working for me who took the same approach. It was a good comment, and he constantly worked in the Goat Locker to do the best thing, even if it meant sending snipes topside to help the OPS/CS guys get ready for their inspections.
I’m thinking our $1B DDGs are cool, but not what we need in the current threat environment, unless we can pull the ABM role completely out of the USAF hands, then that would be a different role and mission.
I also know Charleston is thriving, with the community doing great things with the Naval Base property, to everyone’s benefit. Good communities see the opportunities,, and make it happen.
This country needs people working for the greater betterment more often….Your argument is a good one.
OT: One more comment from the Dick Marcinko thread: Would you consider wrting up your observations from the boss who took in the “rejects?” I think that would be a great object lesson…I’d like to hear more.
May 14th, 2005 at 4:25 pm
Curt, Charleston has actually done very little with the naval base and shipyard… The big problem is that it is the nastiest “brown field” any developer would want to take on …. I fear that the same will happen with Groton.
May 16th, 2005 at 11:37 am
Couldn’t agree more, Chap. Even more reasons rotten Groton is on the list. Sorry to see it go, but if we have to survive, so be it. Well done.
Subsunk
May 16th, 2005 at 6:54 pm
“Crews must go down to Norfolk to train”? I was in Groton from early ‘98 until I retired in late ‘03, and we didn’t make a single trip to Norfolk – all the training we needed was done here in Groton. Didn’t make many trips to the VaCapes opareas, either – we usually stayed up here in the NBOAs.
RM1(SS) (ret)
May 16th, 2005 at 7:02 pm
Some of the Groton boats started going south for predeployment training when I was in Norfolk in ‘03-04. Yeah, it used to be the other way around–boats from Norfolk went north to train–but the Norfolk boats I worked with stayed south, and Groton boats came to Norfolk.
And here’s the kicker–there’s no CSG or ESG in Groton. Adds time-distance and availability constraints to be farther away. Hard to train with the carrier when it’s south of you operating in the CVOAs; same with the LHA, the SEALs, the shallow water range, the MIO targets, the practice HVTs….