Painful Parting
Pendleton Fears A ‘Devastating’ Blow From Navy’s Exit
Posted: October 4, 2012
SUGAR GROVE, W.Va. — The phaseout of the Naval Information Operations Command at Sugar Grove, W.Va., would have a “devastating” effect on most of Pendleton County, local business and community leaders say.
“There would not be any of our community that would not be impacted. That includes businesses, service organizations, on down to churches and schools. It will be a huge impact — local jobs and money that naval personnel bring into the community,” Franklin businesswoman Rebecca Lough said.
The base commander, William Kramer, told community officials that the National Security Agency had conducted an “enterprise assessment” that looks at “reducing the footprint” of the U.S. Navy at Sugar Grove and in time will “transition the Navy presence out altogether.”
More than 190 active-duty military personnel are stationed at the base, which also employs about 120 civilians.
According to the base’s website, the Navy’s presence in Sugar Grove began in 1955 when the present site of NIOC was selected for a Naval Research Laboratory project. The base now performs communications research and development for the Navy, Department of Defense and other elements of the federal government.
Federal law requires the Navy to find another tenant for the base, Kramer said. The five-point procedure searches first within the Navy, then in another military branch, then in the Department of Defense, then in state government, and finally the private sector for a replacement.
A new tenant has not been determined yet.
“I trust the process will be followed to find a new tenant, and it’s bounded by law,” Kramer said.
Kramer adds he has a tentative date of Oct. 15, 2015, to “disestablish” his command.
The Pendleton County Commission has sent letters to West Virginia’s two U.S. senators, Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller, both Democrats, and U.S. Reps. Shelley Moore Capito, R-Franklin, and David McKinley, R-Wheeling, soliciting their assistance in “either preventing or mitigating this potential loss to the fragile economic fabric” of Pendleton County.
The possible loss of more than 300 high-paying jobs “would be devastating during the best of times,” but in the current economic climate there is no possibility of “absorbing these displaced workers,” the letter signed by commission President Carl Hevener stated.
Pendleton County School Superintendent Doug Lambert said the Navy has been a great community partner.
“We’ve relished the relationship we’ve had with the military,” Lambert said. “We’re very disappointed that this is the path that has been taken but understand the dilemma.”
Fifty-one children of Navy personnel attend Brandywine Elementary School, the closest to the base, making up more than 38 percent of that student body. Throughout the school system, about 10 percent of the students have parents stationed or employed at the base.
Retired Navy Cmdr. Robert Pliska is one of many military retirees who live near the base for its amenities, such as the medical dispensary, commissary and exchange.
“I feel they are losing a secure, secluded area to operate whatever they are going to operate,” Pliska said.
The Pendleton County Economic and Community Development Authority also sent letters to state lawmakers stating the loss to the local economy and emphasizing the Navy’s “untold hours” of volunteer community service in emergency services, schools, Little League and other local activities.
Capito has been in contact with the Defense Department regarding the status of the base.
“We will work to ensure that the Sugar Grove Naval facility remains an integral part of Pendleton County, as it has been for four decades,” Capito said.
Manchin has been in contact with the secretary of the Navy and has assured the community that no final decisions have been made about the future of the facility. He said he will continue to work with the “highest levels of our military and national security leadership to make sure that Sugar Grove is used to its full capacity to protect this country.”
If it does downsize, though, some local officials see a silver lining.
County Commissioner Gene McConnell stated the county could end up with a net positive. The 180-acre “lower base” would make a “wonderful convalescent facility for wounded veterans,” McConnell said. “The locale is perfect, and we already have a strong local Wounded Warrior group.
“We’re really good at caregiving — it could be a new industry. I refuse to look at this as the end of the world. We need to focus our efforts on getting something good here.”
Contact Joan Ashley at 574-6200
“There would not be any of our community that would not be impacted. That includes businesses, service organizations, on down to churches and schools. It will be a huge impact — local jobs and money that naval personnel bring into the community,” Franklin businesswoman Rebecca Lough said.
The base commander, William Kramer, told community officials that the National Security Agency had conducted an “enterprise assessment” that looks at “reducing the footprint” of the U.S. Navy at Sugar Grove and in time will “transition the Navy presence out altogether.”
More than 190 active-duty military personnel are stationed at the base, which also employs about 120 civilians.
According to the base’s website, the Navy’s presence in Sugar Grove began in 1955 when the present site of NIOC was selected for a Naval Research Laboratory project. The base now performs communications research and development for the Navy, Department of Defense and other elements of the federal government.
Federal law requires the Navy to find another tenant for the base, Kramer said. The five-point procedure searches first within the Navy, then in another military branch, then in the Department of Defense, then in state government, and finally the private sector for a replacement.
A new tenant has not been determined yet.
“I trust the process will be followed to find a new tenant, and it’s bounded by law,” Kramer said.
Kramer adds he has a tentative date of Oct. 15, 2015, to “disestablish” his command.
The Pendleton County Commission has sent letters to West Virginia’s two U.S. senators, Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller, both Democrats, and U.S. Reps. Shelley Moore Capito, R-Franklin, and David McKinley, R-Wheeling, soliciting their assistance in “either preventing or mitigating this potential loss to the fragile economic fabric” of Pendleton County.
The possible loss of more than 300 high-paying jobs “would be devastating during the best of times,” but in the current economic climate there is no possibility of “absorbing these displaced workers,” the letter signed by commission President Carl Hevener stated.
Pendleton County School Superintendent Doug Lambert said the Navy has been a great community partner.
“We’ve relished the relationship we’ve had with the military,” Lambert said. “We’re very disappointed that this is the path that has been taken but understand the dilemma.”
Fifty-one children of Navy personnel attend Brandywine Elementary School, the closest to the base, making up more than 38 percent of that student body. Throughout the school system, about 10 percent of the students have parents stationed or employed at the base.
Retired Navy Cmdr. Robert Pliska is one of many military retirees who live near the base for its amenities, such as the medical dispensary, commissary and exchange.
“I feel they are losing a secure, secluded area to operate whatever they are going to operate,” Pliska said.
The Pendleton County Economic and Community Development Authority also sent letters to state lawmakers stating the loss to the local economy and emphasizing the Navy’s “untold hours” of volunteer community service in emergency services, schools, Little League and other local activities.
Capito has been in contact with the Defense Department regarding the status of the base.
“We will work to ensure that the Sugar Grove Naval facility remains an integral part of Pendleton County, as it has been for four decades,” Capito said.
Manchin has been in contact with the secretary of the Navy and has assured the community that no final decisions have been made about the future of the facility. He said he will continue to work with the “highest levels of our military and national security leadership to make sure that Sugar Grove is used to its full capacity to protect this country.”
If it does downsize, though, some local officials see a silver lining.
County Commissioner Gene McConnell stated the county could end up with a net positive. The 180-acre “lower base” would make a “wonderful convalescent facility for wounded veterans,” McConnell said. “The locale is perfect, and we already have a strong local Wounded Warrior group.
“We’re really good at caregiving — it could be a new industry. I refuse to look at this as the end of the world. We need to focus our efforts on getting something good here.”
Contact Joan Ashley at 574-6200