NAVY: USS John C. Stennis to homeport in Bremerton
Sun | Local
By Lloyd A. Pritchett, Sun Staff — Nov 1st, 2001
* The aircraft carrier and its crew of 3,000 are scheduled to arrive in fall 2004.
The Navy has decided to base the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis in Bremerton in 2004, ending years of worry and speculation about what will happen after the carrier USS Carl Vinson leaves town for a lengthy refueling overhaul.
The Stennis homeporting decision supersedes an earlier Navy recommendation to base the brand-new carrier USS Ronald Reagan in Bremerton. The earlier recommendation ignited a storm of protest among California politicians, who said the Ronald Reagan should be homeported in the state of the ex-president for whom it is named.
Following the California outcry, the Navy shifted the USS Ronald Reagan's home port to San Diego, Calif. It will move there after its construction is completed in 2004, taking the place of the Stennis, now homeported there, after it comes to Bremerton.
Navy officials said the homeporting decision was based on a host of considerations other than political calculations.
"This decision is in the best interest of the Navy, taking into account all operational, quality-of-life, maintenance and homeporting facility issues," said Navy spokesman Cmdr. Jack Papp of Naval Air Forces Pacific.
U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, said he was notified Wednesday morning by Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, about the Navy's decision to base the John C. Stennis in Bremerton and the Ronald Reagan in San Diego.
"This is something the community has really been concerned about," said Dicks, a senior member of the House defense appropriations committee who has been a strong support of homeporting carriers in Bremerton.
Dicks called the Stennis decision "good news for Bremerton."
"Now we can breathe easier," agreed Jim Adrian, vice president of the Puget Sound Naval Bases Association, a local Navy support group. "Whenever that ship gets here we're going to give it a tremendous welcome."
Before Wednesday's decision, the worst-case fear was that no aircraft carrier would be sent to replace the Carl Vinson after it leaves Bremerton in early 2004 for a six-month deployment followed by a three-year refueling overhaul in Virginia.
But under the decision announced Wednesday, the John C. Stennis will arrive six to 10 months after the Carl Vinson's departure. The 97,000-ton Stennis will remain in Bremerton permanently.
Both of the giant nuclear-powered carriers have a crew of about 3,000 sailors and an annual payroll of about $140 million.
Navy officials said the basing of the aircraft carriers will follow a carefully orchestrated schedule:
* USS Carl Vinson will depart Bremerton in early 2004 on an overseas assignment expected to last roughly six months. After the deployment, the ship will report to Newport News, Va., for a complex nuclear refueling overhaul that is expected to take about three years.
* Families of the USS John C. Stennis crew will begin relocating from San Diego to Bremerton in mid-2004, while the ship is deployed at sea.
* The Stennis and its crew will arrive at Naval Station Bremerton in fall 2004. The carrier immediately will begin a drydocking maintenance period at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard that is expected to last about a year, adding significantly to the yard's workload.
The maintenance period, originally set for 2003, was delayed to avoid forcing the crew to move back and forth between Bremerton and San Diego two years in a row.
* USS Ronald Reagan will be commissioned in spring 2003 and arrive in San Diego for homeporting in spring 2004. It will join the carrier USS Nimitz, already stationed there.
* The carrier USS Constellation, now based in San Diego, will come to Bremerton for decommissioning in 2003.
Dicks welcomed the Navy's decision to send the Stennis to Bremerton. The ship, commissioned in December 1995, is named for the late U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis, a Mississippi Democrat who was a strong supporter of the military during his 40 years in Congress.
PSNS Commander Capt. Greg Bryant welcomed the decision.
"We're familiar with the ship since we have worked on it in San Diego, and look forward to welcoming them into our community," he said.
Navy officials said there's been no decision about where USS Carl Vinson will be homeported after its overhaul is completed in late 2007.
California officials would like to see the Carl Vinson based in San Diego, while local Navy supporters would like to see it brought back to Bremerton.
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