The Navy is looking for alternatives to its training ranges at Veiques in Puerto Rico, which 60 years has provided training for the major elements of naval gunfire, amphibious assault and live weapons drops. The political climate at Vieques changed in recent years amid protests of locals about the training and hit a flash point in 1999 when an errant bomb accidentally killed a civilian guard.

Natter’s mandate is clear: find suitable training facilities quickly to ensure training doesn’t suffer. "The Secretary of the Navy has stated publicly that he intends to stop our operations in Vieques in May of 2003," says Natter. "My mission in life is to deploy combat-ready forces. So I can’t wait until May of 03 to start looking around for something else to do."

But it is not just a political cloud over Vieques that is forcing the Admiral to seek other facilities, technology has been a catalyst as well--both a driver and an enabler of the transition. The Navy’s increased use of precision-guided munitions at longer distances from targets requires larger target ranges with safety buffers that exceed Vieques’s capability. On the other hand, sophisticated new computer technology along with sonobuoy’s will allow critical naval gunfire training to be conducted without the requirement to use land targets. Called the Virtual-At-Sea Training (VAST) system, gunfire is scored acoustically. Tests of the VAST system were performed in the Gulf of Mexico in November. (see related article)

Without the requirement for physical targets, the island’s value for future naval training is diminished. Natter feels his approach to finding other ranges satisfies these two elements. "Folding in new technology not only to accommodate our new technology weapons but also to utilize new technology in the way we train," he states.

But rather than seek a single facility to satisfy all Navy’s training needs he is looking at a constellation of areas along the gulf and southeast coast—each providing unique characteristics. Florida training facilities under review for operations and support include the Eglin Air Force Base ranges, Tyndall Air Force Base, Pensacola Naval Air Station, Panama City Coastal Systems Station, Avon Park and Pinecastle ranges and Key West Naval Air Station. Cherry Point bombing range and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina are also part of the plan.

Congressman Jeff Miller has been working closely with CINCLANT all along. "Since Vieques appears to no longer remain a viable solution to training needs, I absolutely support moving CINCLANT Training into the Gulf of Mexico and Florida’s bases. I have spoken extensively to the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, and Admiral Natter about this scenario and they know they have my full support. I think it’s just a matter of time before it happens."

Natter’s strategy not only allows the training to be optimized, it distributes the impact on communities. "They are not going to have to absorb all of our training," he states. "The benefit of this approach – and we’ll call this the training resource strategy, is to be able to disperse this training out into various bases and facilities along the east coast and the gulf coast. This allows us to share the investment and the pain. Additionally, if we are required to flow forces for a contingency, if the President should so direct, we can do so having these various ranges to choose from as opposed to just one."

"CINCLANT training in the Gulf of Mexico will mean millions of dollars in infrastructure and improvements for Northwest Florida bases and ranges," according to Congressman Miller. "Defense contractors and small businesses would see more federal dollars spent in the local area. Pensacola could see an increase in the number of port calls. It’s difficult to put a dollar amount on it, but the economic impact would be significant."

The potential impact of increased Navy presence in the Gulf of Mexico has the Pensacola area teeming with anticipation—a city widowed by the departure of the carrier USS Lexington and pining to homeport a major naval vessel.

Vann Goodloe is excited about the Navy’s intentions. "This will have a tremendous impact on the community," states the retired Navy Captain and now Senior Vice President for Armed Services at the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce who heard the Admiral address the Rotary Club in Pensacola. "Shore time for sailors and marines will put an average of $75/day per person into the local economy not to mention the ship stores and goods that will be needed," Goodloe notes. While ashore the sailors and marines will be warmly greeted—in droves. "The last aircraft carrier to visit was the USS Enterprise over 2 years ago," says Goodloe. "The reception was phenomenal, over 32,000 people over a 2 day period turned out to see it."

But getting a carrier the size of the USS Enterprise into the pier will require dredging. To dredge to the depths required of "super-carriers" would cost from $19-20 million, which is not budgeted at this time. According to Goodloe the Allegheny pier at Pensacola NAS would be a likely anchorage. Nevertheless, Pensacola is bent on home-porting a major naval vessel.

With a potential annual impact of $800 million a year for the state support for Natter’s plan is solid from Pensacola to Tallahassee. "There is bipartisan support for our plan here. I have talked with Senator Graham, Senator Nelson and Governor Bush all personally, their staffs, Congressman Miller--they are very supportive."

Natter has found a receptive audience to his plan and a region predisposed to a military presence. "What’s so nice about Florida and some other states down here and along the coast is that they have had the military presence." he notes. "They have had the benefits of the military living in their community and they are very supportive."

Senator Nelson’s office is anxious to see how the Navy’s intentions develop. To the extent that the Navy’s intentions are manifested by investments in facilities and range improvements the Senator wants to help accelerate CINCLANT’s objectives according to Bill Sutey, Military Advisor to the Senator. "Senator Nelson is eager to support the Navy's training modernization efforts," Sutey notes, "and we are looking for ways to accelerate what they are trying to achieve in the interest of fleet readiness and getting a head start on improving our Florida bases."

The Senator is also wary of the importance of full utilization of all Florida military facilities as the specter of another round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) proceedings looms over military communities. "The BRAC process is intended to identify excess and underutilized installations and facilities for closure or realignment," Sutey notes. "The CINCLANT plan increases utilization of Florida's installations, ranges and facilities, therefore contributing to their military value well into the future. Senator Nelson has long recognized this an important positive for the future of our bases within the BRAC process."

Congressman Miller acknowledges that it helps but is still cautious, "It certainly doesn’t take Northwest Florida’s bases off the table for BRAC 2005, he warns. "Florida needs to continue working diligently to protect its strong military presence."

The work has already started. "Parts of the transition have already begun," according to Miller. "Coastal Systems Station Panama City and Eglin Air Force Base have begun to upgrade their capabilities. Eglin has begun to assess the airspace needs for such a mission. Pensacola NAS has looked at dredging the channel to facilitate bigger ships. The process is underway."