Civilians fear job losses on Base

On May 13, 118 civilians employed at the Naval Weapons Station located off Ammunition Road learned their lives in Fallbrook were in jeopardy of change. That was the day Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced his military base closure and realignment recommendations to the nation. Once most North County residents learned of the minimal impact on Camp Pendleton, they sighed with relief. Not so for the 118 civilians who support the Navy and Marine Corps, along with their support contractor, Engineering/Documentation Systems, Inc. (EDSI), who now face an uncertain future.

The 118 civilians who are known as Marine Corps Programs Division (MCPD) represent about half the personnel at the Naval Weapons Station. They work directly for the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane), headquartered in Indiana, and are a tenant activity of Camp Pendleton, located at the Naval Weapons Station, Fallbrook. EDSI, whose main office is in Corona, CA, but has a Fallbrook office, provides engineering support services to MCPD. NSWC Crane supports the Navy and Marine Corps in the areas of ordnance, electronics and electronic warfare.

According to a civilian employee spouse, “realignment” means either: losing the job completely because the work will be absorbed by another employee in a different location, or keeping the job but moving with it to a new location; in this case, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ.

So far, none of the 118 civilian employees know their fate. Across the country other similar sites were told exactly what to expect, but not the civilian employees at the Naval Weapons Station.

Although the Department of Defense announced on May 23 the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commissioners (BRAC) would be visiting all the bases “on the list for ‘major’ closure or realignment,” the Naval Weapons Station at Fallbrook was not named. On Wednesday, June 1, however, three representatives from Congressman Darrell Issa’s office did visit the site, listened to a presentation by the employees and learned how important their jobs were to the military effort. Congressman Issa was in Moscow, according to a staff member.

Sue Webster, the Corporate Communications Director for Crane Division, states the process for determining which bases are ultimately affected is not over. Webster says the employees “shouldn’t give up, just keep working.” That’s easy to say. Her job isn’t on the “realignment” list. Still, Crane Division has a lot at stake, too. Their primary installation in Indiana is their state’s 12th largest employer and is also at risk for realignment or reduction. Webster didn’t know when the commissioners would visit the Naval Weapons Station; according to the list published by BRAC, it might be “if” instead of “when.” To find out more about the realignment at the Fallbrook site, Webster advises individuals contact the site directly, write to the BRAC Commission at 2521 S. Clark Street, Suite 600, Arlington, VA 22202 or call them at (703) 699-2950.

According to its Web site, the Fallbrook Naval Weapons Station is unique among naval weapons facilities. Ammunition is taken by truck from a magazine on base to a helicopter pad located inside Camp Pendleton, where a helicopter picks up the load and transfers it to the receiving ship waiting several miles off the coast. It is also home to the only West Coast air-launched missile production and storage facility where air-launched missiles are inspected, maintained and re-certified. The installation stores munitions with a monetary value of approximately half a billion dollars.

MCPD has been located at Naval Weapons Station Fallbrook since the mid 1980s. Its major functions include the operational assessment and systems engineering of Marine Corps ammunition and weapons systems. The workforce is highly skilled and educated and interacts on a daily basis with Camp Pendleton Marines. Functional testing is performed at local Marine Corps bases and at an Army Depot in Nevada. If civilians in MCPD need to conduct testing for the Marine Corps located on the west coast and they are located in New Jersey, is the plan to fly them back and forth? It does not seem to be an efficient cost-cutting decision.

To put the realignment of 118 jobs at the Fallbrook site in perspective, the BRAC report notes California will lose a total of 5,693 civilian jobs this go-around; the greatest number for any state with military installations. But in Fallbrook, numbers count. Even low ones. Disrupting the lives of 118 families is important.

Another issue of interest to Fallbrook residents and businesses in particular is a statement on the Naval Weapons Station Web site that claims their installation contributes $9.1 million to the local economy. Every dollar spent by the 118 civilians for living expenses, including housing, food, education, entertainment and the incidentals of every-day life, makes up a portion of that contribution.

At Carl’s Jr. on the corner of Mission and Ammunition, General Manager Peggy Rubic expressed surprise when she learned the Naval Weapons Station could lose employees. “This is not good. It’s the first I’ve heard about it. We see those folks at breakfast and lunchtime Monday through Friday, and Friday night, too.” Rubic admitted her location would feel the loss of business. Pro Tire and Fallbrook Auto Parts also do business with Naval Weapons Station employees. Kevin Kluth, who manages Pro Tire, said they service 10 to 12 vehicles a year but claimed the loss of business would not be substantial; Jerry Olive at Fallbrook Auto Parts expressed a similar sentiment. “We sell four or five batteries to them in an emergency, but that’s about all.”

The trickle-down loss to the economy may not be significant to any one Fallbrook business, but cumulative could be dramatic. Visitors to the Naval Weapons Station and companies doing business with their tenants, Marine Corps Programs Division and EDSI, stay in Fallbrook hotels, eat in community restaurants, buy gas, incidentals.

Bob Leonard, executive director of the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce, is “saddened to see the impact on the community.” He advises employees find an argument to keep their jobs. “It must be a military reason,” he says, then states the BRAC mission says “economic impact cannot affect their

decision.”

Another aspect of economic loss directly affects Fallbrook schools. Each child of a civilian employee working on a military installation qualifies for Federal Impact Aid — federal dollars that go directly to each school where that child attends. If their family leaves Fallbrook, the Federal Impact Aid leaves with them. Jim Whitlock, the assistant superintendent for the Fallbrook Elementary School District, said although they had not received official notification, “We do get assistance for military and civilian children and [the loss] would have an adverse impact.” Chet Gannett, assistant superintendent of Fallbrook High School, said nine of their students have parents at the Naval Weapons Station.

There are also other employment concerns. Many of the spouses of the civilian employees at the Naval Weapons Station have jobs with nearly all the major employers within the community. One such is Shannon Ventuleth. She works for the Fallbrook Elementary School District and is its only bilingual speech pathologist. Since Ventuleth doesn’t know what lies ahead for her family, she can’t tell her employers when — or if — she will be leaving them. She is especially concerned about this because few qualified individuals exist to take her place.

At issue, too, are the volunteer hours contributed back to the community by the families employed at the Naval Weapons Station. A family spokesperson for one employee at the site commented that there are Boy Scout leaders, National Charity League members, St. Vincent DePaul volunteers, Soroptimist and Lions Club members and members of the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce whose contributions would abruptly be withdrawn.

Finally, when the actual realignment takes place real estate inventory will be affected. If 118 houses go on the market at one time, which Janice Shannon at Coldwell Banker Landmark Group doubts will happen, she says, “We’ve had worse. The inventory has been higher.” Shannon is optimistic, though; a few more homes won’t make a difference, she claims.

Meanwhile, 118 families of the civilian employees of the Fallbrook Naval Weapons Station marked for realignment are holding their breath.