Posted on 12/18/2008 3:52:10 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Thousands more sailors will call Mayport home come 2014, when the Navy moves a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to its base there.
The Navy will spend the next five years and some $400 million dredging the St. Johns River, refurbishing the wharf and building infrastructure to handle the ship, which will partially fill the void left when the John F. Kennedy was decommissioned in 2007.
As well as providing a half-billion-dollar ongoing economic impact, the decision to base a carrier at Mayport Naval Station showcases the area's strategic potential, local politicians said after the announcement Monday, and cements Jacksonville's place in the Navy's plans for the future.
Although the Navy brass doesn't officially sign off on the recommendation for at least 35 days, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said the decision is a "done deal."
"It's the first step in a long process of redoing the facilities in Mayport," he said.
Having the ship here "reduces risk to fleet resources in the event of a natural disaster, manmade calamity, or attack by foreign nations or terrorists," the Navy said in announcing the decision, which will be officially released Friday.
That argument is one Florida politicians have pushed for years: All four aircraft carriers on the East Coast are based in Norfolk, they say, opening the door for a Pearl Harbor scenario if the Virginia base were attacked.
(Excerpt) Read more at jacksonville.com ...
Having a carrier based in the Gulf of Mexico also sends a nice warning to Msrs. Castro and Chavez.
That was proven to me when in 1991, the closest USAF SAC base in the lower 48 to the then-USSR (Loring AFB) was closed.
Why? Because it was in far northern Maine. No congressional clout, national security be damned.
Mayport=Jacksonville. Hardly a Gulf base. Eight-ten hours minimum for a carrier group to get to the Keys.
I thought the GW was supposed to be based permanently in Japan.
GW is based in Japan. GW = USS George Washington, CVN-73.
Hardly.
Largest concentration of military in the world is in San Diego and building up more.
Stateside, yes. I am referring to the Southeast Asia Pacific region. I don’t know, though, just articles and publications that I have read due to the incoming administration. Basically, the DoD will expect a force restructure and cuts. Could all just be speculation. The talking heads probably know as much as we do.
If they wanted to put a carrier anywhere closer they’d have to build shore facilities from scratch. Mayport already has the facilities for a carrier, they just need to be upgraded.
That’s a big deal. Mayport hasn’t been the same since they decomissioned all of the conventional carriers. I think the last flat-top to call Mayport home was USS Saratoga CV-60...
“Suckin’ Sixty from Dixie” was her nickname for a while because she got caught in the mud pier side one year when a hurricane pulled all the water out of the bay, and left Sara sitting stuck in the mud and sucking a bunch of it up through her uptakes...
CAFSU (Carrier and Field Service Unit) or (Come Aboard, F**k Sumpthin’ Up) used to have quite a good Field Office near the pier in Mayport, and they did a ton of work on any carrier that pulled in down there. I would expect they will be doing a Land-Office business with a nuke boat home-ported there.
Oh, I know. JFK and Enterprise used to be homeported there.
The only U.S. aircraft carrier I’ve ever seen was the USS Saratoga. She was tied up off Naples back in 1963. Even from the Fleet Landing, it was an awesome sight,
Mayport is the home of the recently-revived Fourth Fleet, IIRC.
Good point.
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