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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| San Francisco: Navy scuttles plan to commission warship here, citing local politics |
| 2006-12-03 |
| Moved to today from yesterday. AoS. Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter vetoed plans to commission the Makin Island, the Navy's newest and most powerful warship, in San Francisco in 2008 because of a perception that the city is anti-military. Gee, where would he get that idea? Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. J. Michael Myatt, chairman of a high-powered committee that was to support a commissioning ceremony for the Makin Island, said he has been informed that the ship would not be commissioned in San Francisco, as scheduled, but in San Diego. Myatt said he had been told that the Navy was concerned about San Francisco's refusal to provide a homeport for the retired battleship Iowa, which would be turned into a museum, and for the city school board's decision to abolish junior ROTC training in San Francisco high schools. Payback One of the factors that turned the Pentagon against San Francisco, he said, was widely quoted anti-military remarks made by various city politicians. Some of the remarks got considerable attention, especially ones made by Gerardo Sandoval, a member of the Board of Supervisors, who was quoted on national television as saying national defense should be left to "the cops and the Coast Guard.'' Myatt said the Navy had mistaken the views of some political leaders for the views of the majority of citizens in the Bay Area. Ya think? Now just who elected hosers like Sandoval? "There are lots of veterans living here,'' he said. "One in every nine members of the military now serving come from California. Sure, Mojave, Compton, Bakersfield... but how many from SF? These people in Washington don't understand. They understand cause and effect, something that escapes Myatt. "Bringing this ship here is a great opportunity to showcase what great people we have in the military. Instead, they are trying to poke a stick in the eye of local politicians. I think it is shortsighted.'' "and it leaves the whole world blind..." When oculesic metaphors attack.... A commissioning is a ceremony where the officers and crew formally take charge of the ship on behalf of the Navy. It differs from a christening ceremony in that the warship is fully operational and ready for service. The Navy had decided several months ago to commission the ship in San Francisco on the recommendation of Capt. Bob Kopas, the new ship's commanding officer. Kopas, Joseph Hanna, who coordinates all ship commissionings for the Navy, and other officers paid at least three visits to the Bay Area to inspect facilities and make arrangements. And what does the Captain say about this now? Nothing if he is smart... Myatt was commanding general during the 1991 Persian Gulf War of the 1st Marine Division, which captured Kuwait City. Now CEO of the Marines Memorial Association in San Francisco, he and several others formed a committee with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Secretary of Defense William Perry and Stephen Bechtel Jr. of the Bechtel Corp. as honorary co-chairs. The group was organizing an elaborate program and preparing to raise money for a big ceremony in the summer of 2008. Good, these fatcats can afford to build their own ship, the USS Sensitivity, and donate it to the homeless or something. When the taxpayers of flyover country foot the bill, it's our call and Secretary Winter has made it. The Navy officers, who attended meetings of the commissioning committee, were enthusiastic about San Francisco's Fleet Week and two previous occasions when Navy ships were commissioned in the city. The last ship to be commissioned in San Francisco was the frigate McCampbell, which went into commission at Pier 32 in the summer of 2002. At the time, retired Rear Adm. Tom Brown described San Francisco's support for the ceremony as superb. The Navy recommendation for the Makin Island went up the chain of command early this fall, only to be rejected earlier this week by Winter's office. The secretary's office did not return calls Friday seeking comment, but other military sources indicated that the Navy had in fact vetoed San Francisco as a venue for commissioning the Makin Island. The ship, which is under construction in Pascagoula, Miss., was christened in August. It would have to steam from the Gulf Coast around South America to the Pacific on its inaugural voyage because it's too wide for the Panama Canal. After commissioning, the Makin Island will be part of the Third Fleet, based in San Diego. |
| Posted by:Atomic Conspiracy |
| #19 Instead the ungrateful parasites got a gift. Pretty much what hapened with most of the installations. Murtha swung, or tried to swing, Hunter's Point to one of Pelosi's relatives. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2006-12-03 21:49 |
| #18 Interesting list. Onizuka AFB isn't on it but the Presidio is. Time to update. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-12-03 20:21 |
| #17 here's the CA list |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-03 17:06 |
| #16 Pappy, What military activities are left in NC except the Blue Cube and Mare Island? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-12-03 16:54 |
| #15 Too bad the Army turned over the Presidio instead of turning it into a bombing range or chemical weapons dump. Because of corrupt pork barrel politicians, too bad DoD didn't get an opportunity to bid the land to commercial interests. Would have brought a pretty penny into the Treasury. Instead the ungrateful parasites got a gift. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2006-12-03 16:42 |
| #14 Too bad the Army turned over the Presidio instead of turning it into a bombing range or chemical weapons dump. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-12-03 14:47 |
| #13 damn....I should've read |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-03 13:40 |
| #12 hola Verlaine! Welcome to our fair city :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-03 13:37 |
| #11 The ship's website is here. |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-12-03 13:07 |
| #10 Considering that the Bay area lost nearly all its military installations thanks to that region's attitude (and its politicians), the commissioning-veto is the cherry on the just-dessert. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2006-12-02 22:37 |
| #9 With a conflict of interest, I have to welcome the Makin Island to San Diego (hometown and current location). In fact, I actually talked to some folks about grabbing the Iowa for San Diego when SF f**ked that situation up. I'm afraid an east bay city might have moved in on it - but nothing would match the combo of the Midway downtown, and the Iowa on the south bay waterfront, all basking in this perfect climate ..... (and now I'll have to go re-read all about the Makin Island raid) |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2006-12-02 22:34 |
| #8 Try Alameda. Or Oakland. |
| Posted by: Wheager Unung4824 2006-12-02 22:10 |
| #7 San Francisco's refusal to provide a homeport for the retired battleship Iowa, which would be turned into a museum Fucking idiots! Few machines on earth are as impressive as a teak-decked Iowa class battleship. That San Francisco turned down what should easily have become a major tourist attraction and job site is nothing short of idiotic. I've stood on the USS Missouri's deck at the exact spot where Japan's surrender was signed. The like of these boats will never be built again. Despite San Francisco's deservedly poor reputation at the Pentagon, it still remains one of the top-rated shore leave spots on earth. There's a lot of people in the bay area who were part of the WWII ship building and general military service in that era. They still have a lot of respect for those who serve our nation, even if our moron politicians do not. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-12-02 21:54 |
| #6 The military should petition Congress to preemptively declare San Francisco an open city so that no civilian lives are unnecessarily lost defending it in the event of an invasion. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-12-02 20:34 |
| #5 Gerardo Sandoval, a member of the Board of Supervisors, who was quoted on national television as saying national defense should be left to "the cops and the Coast Guard.'' Interesting... that was what another leftist type, Nehru, said in another country, India.. only he had to power to implement things.. He had to eat his own words when the Chinese attacked... The roots of politicisation of the army are to be found in Nehru's hatred for the man in uniform. Soon after Independence the first commander-in-chief of the Indian armed forces, General Sir Robert Lockhart, presented a paper outlining a plan for the growth of the Indian Army to Prime Minister Nehru. Nehru's reply: "We don't need a defence plan. Our policy is non-violence. We foresee no military threats. You can scrap the army. The police are good enough to meet our security needs." He didn't waste much time. On September 16, 1947, he directed that the army's then strength of 280,000 be brought down to 150,000. Even in fiscal 1950-51, when the Chinese threat had begun to loom large on the horizon, 50,000 army personnel were sent home as per his original plan to disband the armed forces. After Independence, he once noticed a few men in uniform in a small office the army had in North Block, and angrily had them evicted. "I remember many a time when our senior generals came to us, and wrote to the defence ministry saying that they wanted certain things... If we had had foresight, known exactly what would happen, we would have done something else... what India has learnt from the Chinese invasion is that in the world of today there is no place for weak nations... We have been living in an unreal world of our own creation." Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajya Sabha, 1963 |
| Posted by: john 2006-12-02 20:27 |
| #4 San Diego welcomes and salutes them. Remember that when you want to knee-jerk bash Californians |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-02 20:11 |
| #3 If the people of San Francisco think that their representatives on the board of supervisors are way out of line in their hostility to the military, then they better change their leadership. Cause ===> Effect. SF has made it very clear that the Navy is not welcome there, so off to San Diego, where they will be welcomed with open arms. Rantburg will have a representative on hand for the ceremonies, who will give us a full report of the goings on in text and pictures. Commodore Frank G, you have your orders. That is all. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-12-02 20:10 |
| #2 This story is pretty funny, IMHO. Cause => Effect: A bridge too far for Marin County Pols? Lol. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-12-02 19:52 |
| #1 Hey, Gerardo? What are you gonna say after the Big Earthquake when only the "cops and the Coast Guard" show up? Think the AIDS Brigade and the homeless advocates will make everything all better? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-12-02 19:46 |