Groton Sub Base Spared the Axe...

A nine-member commission has reviewed the Pentagon's recommended plan for the closing of military bases and has reportedly taken the Navy submarine base in Groton, CT off the list of locations to be shut down.

There will no doubt be much rejoicing in Southeastern CT which relies heavily on the base and the Electric Boat sub manufacturer for its economy. Closing the base would have been the economic equivalent of having five 20+ foot Great White sharks in the waters off Amity Island.

While I admit I'm somewhat relieved at the move - the reverberating effects on my tax burden would have been pretty rough - I see this as merely delaying the inevitable. Frankly, we don't need two sub bases on the East coast (Newport News, VA being the other) and keeping the base open is not helping the Federal budget any with its redundancy. It would behoove the Pentagon to scale down operations at the base gradually to lessen the impact of its closing sometime in the future.

I have no doubt that Sen. Joe Lieberman has been lobbying pretty hard to save the base. To his credit, his efforts seem to have paid off. The proposal now goes to the President for approval and will become law in about nine weeks.

Posted by: Gary at 12:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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