Marines’ Plans to Leave El Toro by 1996 Disclosed

EL TORO —  The Marines have plans to begin leaving El Toro Marine Corps Air Station on July 1 and hope to be out by 1996, more than three years ahead of the scheduled October, 1999, closure date.

A “migration plan” of Marine units at El Toro shows that three units are to begin moving to Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego by July 1 and be completely in place by Aug. 30.

Marine spokesman Col. Dan Pender declined Monday to provide details about the earlier departure from El Toro, saying only: “We want to start moving this summer.”

Documents obtained by The Times show there are several hurdles complicating the move to Miramar, including a lack of Marine funding for the relocation, questions about the environmental impact of helicopter operations at the jet base, and finding housing for Marines and their families.

In addition, Navy headquarters in Washington is studying the possibility of consolidating Marine and naval FA-18 squadrons on the West Coast at a base in Northern California.

Pender said relocation “plans change literally from day to day.” In an interview last week, he said the Marines planned to be at Miramar “before 1999.”

“The quicker we can move down, the quicker we can close (El Toro), reduce maintenance and save money. Our plan right now is that we need to be gone by 1999. If we can get the funding to accomplish this sooner, we will,” Pender said.

A military source familiar with plans to move the Marine units, mostly FA-18 squadrons, to Miramar said the Marines are also studying the possibility of moving even sooner, possibly as early as May. The migration plan obtained by The Times shows that the Marines plan to complete the move from El Toro by March 1, 1996.

“There was a meeting at Miramar in January, where the Marines told the Navy they had been instructed by their headquarters in Washington to begin the move to Miramar” as soon as possible, said the source, who requested anonymity.

The big issue for the Marine departure, Pender said, is getting funding for the move. The corps has “absolutely zero” in funding this year to make the move from El Toro.

“There is no approved plan, no funded plan,” he said. “Right now headquarters (in Washington) is working on the money issue with the Navy and trying to obtain funding for the move.”

Documents show that the Navy had planned as early as December, 1993, to turn Miramar completely over to the Marines by 1996.

“Currently, (Miramar) is envisioned to be realigned to the USMC in fiscal year ’97. At that time the installation will become a Marine Corps Air Station,” said a Dec. 15, 1993, Navy memo. The 1997 fiscal year will begin on Oct. 1, 1996.

However, the Navy has worried about problems the Marines are having in keeping the schedule. Another Navy memo in December complained that the Marines’ plans to begin moving to Miramar in 1994 “shift with the tide. . . . One week, (it is) execute as quickly as possible . . . next week delay movements until fiscal year ’95.”

A source familiar with the memo said the Marines’ “on-again, off-again approach to the move” is dictated by the uncertainty of the Defense Department funding to pay for it.

The memo also warned that an environmental impact study being done on the transfer of 138 helicopters from El Toro and the Marine air station in Tustin to Miramar may be a “potential showstopper.”

Pender said the Marine environmental study of Miramar began in October and will take between 18 months and two years to complete.

“Federal law says we have to move from El Toro and Tustin. I don’t know what will happen if the (environmental) study says we can’t do that,” Pender said.

Now, there are no helicopters at Miramar, which is used exclusively by Navy fixed-wing aircraft, mostly F-14 fighters and a few FA-18 attack fighters.

Another potential problem in the move is where to house the Marines and their families once they move to Miramar, Pender said, noting that the Marines will give up 2,727 housing units at El Toro.

The source, who is familiar with the Navy’s plans to vacate Miramar, said Navy officials informed the Marines that the Navy will not give up any of its Miramar housing.