55.7 F
San Diego
Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024
-Advertisement-

New San Diego Military Advisory Council Will Tackle Airport Issue

New San Diego Military Advisory Council Will Tackle Airport Issue

Defense: Panel May Take Positions Contrary To the Chamber’s Stand

BY BRAD GRAVES

Pledging to be singular in its purpose of supporting the military and the defense industry, the San Diego Military Advisory Council held its first public meeting last week, drawing 150 people.

Group leaders announced they would form subcommittees to address San Diego’s airport site search, the Pentagon’s base closure process, the cost of housing, and other issues.

The group also heard from Rear Adm. Jose Betancourt Jr., whose work overseeing Navy facilities in the Southwest gives him the unofficial title “Navy mayor.”

Betancourt praised the new group at the end of his remarks.

“I applaud SDMAC,” he said.

The new group will be “issue focused,” said Vice President Mike Woiwode, a local representative for Arinc Inc. “It will be oriented toward problem-solving: to find out what’s bothering the military folks and do something about it,” Woiwode said.

One of those issues is how the effort to build a larger airport for San Diego will affect the military. The San Diego Regional Airport Authority has suggested studying three in-county military bases for an airport.

Navy officials, in return, have spoken out against sharing at least one military base , Naval Air Station North Island , with civilians. Such an arrangement is called “joint use.”

“I know we have not been asked to joint use North Island,” said Betancourt, who said he has “severe and serious concerns” about such an arrangement. North Island hosts student pilots and has roughly the same amount of takeoffs and landings as Lindbergh Field, he said.

“The military is opposed to joint use. We’re opposed to joint use,” Woiwode said. “We’ll carry that flag.”

Nancy Dix of Gray, Cary, Ware & Freidenrich is leading the SDMAC focus group on airport issues.

The council’s leaders , Woiwode and Frank Hewitt of San Diego-based Indus Technology , made a splash in mid-February when they quit posts with the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce’s military affairs group to form their own group.

Hewitt has said the new group may , on occasion , take positions contrary to the chamber. Jessie J. Knight Jr., the chamber’s president and CEO, has said the chamber is “totally dedicated” to supporting the military.

Retired Rear Adm. Ronne Froman has taken temporary leadership of the chamber’s Military Affairs Advisory Council, or MAAC.

SDMAC , the splinter group , plans to meet at 7:30 a.m. on the third Wednesday of every month.

Other SDMAC officers are Larry Blumberg and Tom Caughlan. The group’s inaugural board of directors consists of Jim Bedinger, Bruce Boland, Buck Bragunier, Stephen P. Cushman, Bud Edney, Pete Hedley, Jim Lasswell, Terry Magee, John Pettitt, Dick Shearer, and Randy Walti.

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-