CV-67 taken out of service

Retiring USS Kennedy proposed
Warner backs bill; impact on Hampton Roads is still unclear

BY PETER HARDIN AND BILL GEROUX
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS Feb 18, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John W. Warner has flashed a green light to Navy officials wanting to retire the aging, Florida-based aircraft carrier the USS John F. Kennedy.

Warner, R-Va. and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, successfully fought last year a Navy bid to retire the Kennedy. Some Virginia officials have feared an economic blow if the Navy chose in turn to shift an aircraft carrier from Hampton Roads to Florida.

This week, Warner changed course. He introduced a bill to permit reducing the aircraft carrier fleet from 12 to 11, which would allow the Kennedy's retirement. New developments influenced him, said Warner, a former Navy secretary.

Warner pointed to a new military plan issued by the Pentagon that assesses global threats and would reduce the Navy's carrier force to 11, while increasing the size of the overall fleet.

He also said Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter told him of major problems caused by the Kennedy's deterioration. Yesterday, the Navy suspended fixed-wing aircraft flight operations on the Kennedy, due to problems with arresting gear equipment on the ship.

The costs to extend the Kennedy's life "prove prohibitive when measured against the critical need for investing in modernizing the carrier force, the submarine force and the surface combatant force," Warner said in a statement Thursday night.

Retirement of the Kennedy could impact Hampton Roads if, as some Navy officials have suggested, one of the five Norfolk-based carriers were transferred to Mayport, Fla., to replace the Kennedy.

A carrier represents roughly 3,000 jobs and millions of dollars annually in local spending by the Defense Department and by sailors stationed aboard.

The Navy has announced it will move the George Washington, based in Norfolk, to Japan in 2008 to strengthen the U.S. force in the increasingly tense Pacific region. It is uncertain whether it would be replaced in Norfolk by a new carrier under construction, the George H.W. Bush.

Hampton Roads officials have not questioned the plan to redeploy the George Washington. But they have questioned the rationale and potential cost of moving a Norfolk-based carrier to Mayport, which is not currently equipped to handle nuclear-powered carriers.

Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim said recently that such a move would require years of environmental study and costly dredging in Mayport, which might not jibe with the Navy's stated goals of cutting costs and improving efficiency.

Rep. Thelma Drake, R-2nd, said yesterday she would be willing to accept 11 instead of 12 carriers in the Navy fleet as long as it doesn't weaken the nation's defense capability and it keeps new shipbuilding on track.

Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-3rd, said Navy officials contended it could cost as much as $3 billion to extend the life of the Kennedy, and it would waste taxpayers money.

If the option is spending that much money and diverting it from building new submarines and aircraft carriers in Hampton Roads, "We'd be better off with 11 carriers," Scott said.

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