Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier (CVN)
Homeporting at Mayport: Background and
Issues for Congress

Ronald O'Rourke
Specialist in Naval Affairs
May 26, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R40248
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress

Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier (CVN) Homeporting at Mayport

Summary
The Navy’s five Atlantic Fleet nuclear powered aircraft carriers (CVNs) are all homeported at
Norfolk, VA. The Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) final report on the 2010 Quadrennial
Defense Review (QDR), released on February 1, 2010, endorses the Navy’s desire to establish a
second Atlantic Fleet CVN home port by homeporting a CVN at Mayport, FL. Navy plans call for
having Mayport ready to homeport a CVN in 2019.
Transferring a CVN from Norfolk to Mayport would shift from Norfolk to Mayport the local
economic activity associated with homeporting a CVN, which some sources estimate as being
worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
DOD’s proposal to homeport a CVN at Mayport has become an issue of strong interest to certain
Members of Congress from Florida and Virginia. Certain Members of Congress from Florida
have expressed support for DOD’s proposal to homeport a CVN at Mayport, arguing (as do DOD
and the Navy) that the benefits in terms of mitigating risks to the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet CVNs are
worth the costs associated with moving a CVN to Mayport. Certain Members of Congress from
Virginia have expressed skepticism regarding, or opposition to, the proposal, arguing that the
benefits in terms of mitigating risks to the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet CVNs are questionable or
uncertain, and that the funding needed to implement the proposal could achieve greater benefits if
it were spent on other Navy priorities.
The Navy estimates the nonrecurring cost of transferring a CVN to Mayport at $589.7 million,
including $490.7 in Military Construction (MilCon) funding for construction work at Mayport to
make Mayport capable of homeporting a CVN, and $99 million in other one-time costs. The
$490.7 million in MilCon funding includes $46.3 million in dredging costs that the Navy
requested in its FY2010 budget. Congress, as part of its action on the FY2010 defense budget,
approved the request for $46.3 million for dredging. The conference report (H.Rept. 111-288 of
October 7, 2009) on the FY2010 defense authorization act (H.R. 2647/P.L. 111-84 of October 28,
2009, page 870) stated that “this funding is provided solely to permit use of Mayport as a
transient port, and that any potential designation of Mayport as a nuclear carrier homeport will
require future authorizations from the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the
House of Representatives.”
The Navy’s proposed FY2011 budget requests about $2 million in MilCon planning and design
funding for the project to establish a CVN homeport at Mayport.
Section 2201(c)(4) of the FY2011 defense authorization bill (H.R. 5136) as reported by the House
Armed Services Committee (H.Rept. 111-491 of May 21, 2010) states: “None of the funds
appropriated pursuant to this authorization of appropriations may be used for architectural and
engineering services and construction design of any military construction project necessary to
establish a homeport for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at Naval Station Mayport, Florida.”
H.Rept. 111-491 includes report language requiring the Navy and the Government Accountability
Office (GAO) to submit reports concerning the costs and maintenance impacts of homeporting a
CVN at Mayport.
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Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier (CVN) Homeporting at Mayport

Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1
Background ................................................................................................................................ 2
The Navy’s Aircraft Carrier Force ......................................................................................... 2
Norfolk and Mayport Home Ports ......................................................................................... 3
Norfolk, Little Creek, and Newport News ....................................................................... 3
Mayport .......................................................................................................................... 3
Summary of Navy Rationale For Mayport CVN Homeporting............................................... 4
Navy Announcement in January 2009 Record of Decision (ROD) ......................................... 4
Analyses Informing Navy Desire to Transfer a CVN to Mayport ........................................... 5
Strategic Laydown Analysis ............................................................................................ 6
Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)................................................................. 6
Nonrecurring and Recurring Costs .................................................................................. 7
Navy Summary of Its Comparison of Mayport and Norfolk................................................... 9
Local Economic Value of Homeporting a CVN ..................................................................... 9
FY2011 Funding Request .................................................................................................... 11
Issues for Congress ................................................................................................................... 11
Navy’s Basing Decision Process.......................................................................................... 12
Strategic Laydown Analysis ................................................................................................ 13
Nonrecurring and Recurring Costs ...................................................................................... 13
Transit Times ...................................................................................................................... 14
Port Vulnerability................................................................................................................ 14
Natural Disaster ............................................................................................................ 15
Man-Made Disaster....................................................................................................... 15
Other Factors That Might Differentiate Norfolk and Mayport .............................................. 16
Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)..................................................................... 17
Mayport Homeporting Options Other Than Those Studied .................................................. 17
Alternative Uses of Funding................................................................................................ 17
Legislative Activity for FY2011 ................................................................................................ 18
FY2011 Funding Request .................................................................................................... 18
FY2011 Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 5136) ................................................................. 18
House ........................................................................................................................... 18

Figures
Figure D-1. Navy Briefing Slide on Relative Hurricane Risk ..................................................... 44

Tables
Table 1. Estimated Non-Recurring Cost To Transfer a CVN to Mayport ...................................... 8
Table 2. Navy Table Comparing Mayport and Norfolk................................................................. 9
Table 3. Transit Times To Key Destinations............................................................................... 14

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Appendixes
Appendix A. Additional Background Information from May 2010 GAO Report ........................ 21
Appendix B. Prior-Year Legislative Activity.............................................................................. 29
Appendix C. Excerpts from January 2009 Navy Record of Decision (ROD) .............................. 37
Appendix D. Navy Data on Hurricane Risk ............................................................................... 43
Appendix E. Examples of Views from Members........................................................................ 49

Contacts
Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 52

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Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier (CVN) Homeporting at Mayport

Introduction
The Navy’s five Atlantic Fleet nuclear powered aircraft carriers (CVNs) are all homeported at the
Navy’s base at Norfolk, VA, known formally as Naval Station (NAVSTA) Norfolk. On January
14, 2009, the Navy announced that it wants to establish a second Atlantic Fleet CVN home port
by homeporting a CVN at the Navy’s base at Mayport, FL, known formally as NAVSTA
Mayport.1 Obama Administration officials testified later in January 2009 that they would review
the proposal.2 On April 10, 2009, the Department of Defense (DOD) announced that it had
decided to delay a final decision on whether to propose transferring a CVN to Mayport until it
reviewed the issue as part of its 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).3
DOD’s final report on the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), released on February 1,
2010, endorses the Navy’s desire to establish a second Atlantic Fleet CVN home port by
homeporting a CVN at Mayport, FL. The report states: “To mitigate the risk of a terrorist attack,
accident, or natural disaster, the U.S. Navy will homeport an East Coast carrier in Mayport,
Florida.”4
Navy plans call for having Mayport ready to homeport a CVN in 2019. The Navy originally
planned on transferring a CVN to Mayport as early as 2014, but meeting that schedule would
have required funding all necessary military construction (MilCon) projects at Mayport in
FY2010.5
Transferring a CVN from Norfolk to Mayport would shift from Norfolk to Mayport the local
economic activity associated with homeporting a CVN, which some sources estimate as being
worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
DOD’s proposal to homeport a CVN at Mayport has become an issue of strong interest to certain
Members of Congress from Florida and Virginia. Certain Members of Congress from Florida
have expressed support for DOD’s proposal to homeport a CVN at Mayport, arguing (as do DOD
and the Navy) that the benefits in terms of mitigating risks to the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet CVNs are
worth the costs associated with moving a CVN to Mayport. Certain Members of Congress from
Virginia have expressed skepticism regarding, or opposition to, the proposal, arguing that the
benefits in terms of mitigating risks to the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet CVNs are questionable or
uncertain, and that the funding needed to implement the proposal could achieve greater benefits if
it were spent on other Navy priorities.

1 Department of the Navy, Record of Decision for Homeporting of Additional Surface Ships at Naval Station Mayport,
Florida
, January 14, 2009, pp. 1-2.
2 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates testified on January 27, 2009, that both he and the new Secretary of the Navy
would review the issue; and William J. Lynn III, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, made a similar commitment in
testimony at his confirmation hearing on January 15, 2009. (Source: transcripts of hearings.)
3 DOD News Release No. 233-09 of April 10, 2009, entitled “Quadrennial Defense Review To Determine Aircraft
Carrier Homeporting In Mayport,” available online at http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=
12600.
4 Department of Defense, Quadrennial Defense Review Report, February 2010, p. 69. The report does not make any
other comments about the issue.
5 Source: April 23, 2010, e-mail to CRS from Navy Office of Legislative Affairs.
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The Navy estimates the nonrecurring cost of transferring a CVN to Mayport at $589.7 million,
including $490.7 in MilCon funding for construction work at Mayport to make Mayport capable
of homeporting a CVN, and $99 million in other one-time costs. The $490.7 million in MilCon
funding includes $46.3 million in dredging costs that the Navy requested in its FY2010 budget.
Congress, as part of its action on the FY2010 defense budget, approved the request for $46.3
million for dredging. The conference report (H.Rept. 111-288 of October 7, 2009) on the FY2010
defense authorization act (H.R. 2647/P.L. 111-84 of October 28, 2009, page 870) stated that “this
funding is provided solely to permit use of Mayport as a transient port, and that any potential
designation of Mayport as a nuclear carrier homeport will require future authorizations from the
Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives.”6
The Navy’s proposed FY2011 budget requests about $2 million in MilCon planning and design
funding for the project to establish a CVN homeport at Mayport.7
The issue for the 111th Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify DOD’s proposal to
transfer a CVN to Mayport. Congress’s decision on the issue could affect Navy capabilities and
funding requirements, and the local economies of Mayport and Norfolk.
Background
The Navy’s Aircraft Carrier Force
The Navy operates 11 aircraft carriers, all of them nuclear powered. The five CVNs assigned to
the Atlantic fleet are all homeported at Norfolk. The six CVNs assigned to the Pacific Fleet are
homeported at San Diego, CA (three ships),8 Everett, WA, and Bremerton, WA , which are both
located on Puget Sound (one ship each),9 and Yokosuka, Japan (one ship).10

6 H.Rept. 111-288 states:
The conference agreement includes authorization for $46.3 million for channel and turning basin
dredging at Naval Station (NS) Mayport, Florida. The Navy requested this project in order to allow
a nuclear aircraft carrier to enter Naval Station Mayport on a temporary basis with an embarked air
wing, full stores, and under any tidal conditions. The conferees authorize funding for this project
based on the Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations’ assurances that the dredging is
needed for current operational considerations to permit the use of Mayport as a transient dock and
is ‘required irrespective of the final decision on aircraft carrier homeporting at Mayport.’
The conferees emphasize that the inclusion of an authorization for dredging at NS Mayport is not
an indication of conferee support for the establishment of an additional homeport for nuclear
aircraft carriers on the east coast, or intended to influence the ongoing Quadrennial Defense
Review, which may include a recommendation on the establishment of a second east coast
homeport for nuclear aircraft carriers. Furthermore, the conferees note that this funding is provided
solely to permit use of Mayport as a transient port, and that any potential designation of Mayport as
a nuclear carrier homeport will require future authorizations from the Committees on Armed
Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives. (Page 870)
7 Source: Navy Office of Legislative Affairs telephone conversation with CRS on April 1, 2010. See also the spoken
testimony of Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn III at a March 4, 2010, hearing before the House Budget
Committee on DOD’s proposed FY2011 budget.
8 The three CVNs homeported at San Diego include Carl Vinson (CVN-70), which had been homeported at Newport
News, VA, while it underwent a mid-life nuclear refueling overhaul. Following completion of the overhaul, CVN-70
departed Newport News on January 12, 2010, and arrived at San Diego on April 12, 2010.
9 Everett and Bremerton are located about 32 nautical miles from one another, on opposite sides of Puget Sound, which
(continued...)
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The Navy since the 1960s has been replacing its older conventionally powered carriers (CVs) as
they have retired with new CVNs. The Navy achieved an all-CVN carrier force on January 31,
2009, with the retirement of its last operational CV, the Kitty Hawk (CV-63). Prior to being
decommissioned, the Kitty Hawk operated in the Pacific Fleet and was homeported in Yokosuka.
The last operational CV in the Atlantic Fleet was the John F. Kennedy (CV-67), which was
decommissioned on August 1, 2007. Prior to being decommissioned, the Kennedy was
homeported at Mayport.
Norfolk and Mayport Home Ports
Norfolk, Little Creek, and Newport News
In terms of numbers of ships homeported, Norfolk is the Navy’s largest Atlantic Fleet home port.
As of early-February 2009, 56 ships of various types—CVNs, attack submarines (SSNs), cruisers
(CGs), destroyers, (DDGs), frigates (FFGs), large-deck amphibious assault ships
(LHAs/LHDs),11 and other amphibious ships (LPDs)—were homeported at Norfolk. The home
port at Little Creek, VA, is roughly 7 nautical miles to the east of Norfolk (depending on the exact
points used to measure the distance),12 on the same side of the Hampton Roads waterway,13 and is
sometimes referred to as Norfolk (Little Creek). Nine amphibious ships (LSDs) and patrol boats
(PCs) were homeported there as of early-February 2009.
Mayport
Mayport is located in northeast Florida, on the Atlantic Coast, near Jacksonville. It is roughly 469
nautical miles south-southwest of Norfolk.14 In terms of numbers of ships homeported, Mayport
is the Navy’s second-largest Atlantic Fleet home port. As of early-February 2009, 20 CGs, DDGs,
and FFGs were homeported at Mayport. Some of these ships, particularly the FFGs, are
scheduled for decommissioning over the next few years. The Navy reported to Congress in
February 2010 that the service envisages Mayport as the primary Atlantic Fleet homeporting
location for the Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs). (The report identifies Little Creek,
VA, as the Navy’s envisaged secondary Atlantic Fleet LCS homeporting location, and Norfolk as
the Navy’s envisaged tertiary Atlantic Fleet LCS homeporting location.)15

(...continued)
leads to the Pacific Ocean. The figure of about 32 nautical miles is the straight-line distance between the two locations,
as calculated by the “How Fair Is It?” online distance calculator available at http://www.indo.com/cgi-bin/dist.
10 Although the Navy states that the CVN based at Yokosuka is forward deployed to (rather than homeported at)
Yokosuka, the ship is commonly referred to as being homeported or forward-homeported there. The Navy includes
Yokosuka on lists of Navy home ports, and does not show an alternate U.S. location as the home port of the ship.
11 LHAs and LHDs resemble medium-sized aircraft carriers and are sometimes referred to as helicopter carriers or (in
British parlance) commando carriers.
12 This is the straight-line distance measured from maps.
13 The home ports of Norfolk and Little Creek are separated by the downtown portion of Norfolk itself.
14 This is the straight-line distance between the two locations, as calculated by the “How Fair Is It?” online distance
calculator available at http://www.indo.com/cgi-bin/dist.
15 Department of the Navy, Report on Strategic Plan for Homeporting the Littoral Combat Ship, February 2010, p. 5.
See also Zachary M. Peterson, “Navy Report Outlines Notional Littoral Combat Ship Homeporting Strategy,” Inside
the Navy
, March 8, 2010; Christopher P. Cavas, “Mayport To Get First East Coast Littoral Ships,” NavyTimes.com,
(continued...)
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In addition to homeporting CGs, DDGs, and FFGs, Mayport has also served as a CV home port at
various times since the 1950s, and most recently was the home port for the Kennedy, until that
ship was decommissioned in 2007. Navy records dating back to 1979 indicate that Mayport
served as a home port for two CVs (the Forrestal [CV-59] and the Saratoga [CV-60]) in 1979-
1980, 1985-1987, and 1989-1991. (During the period 1980-1985, first CV-60 and then CV-59
underwent Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) overhauls at the Philadelphia Naval
Shipyard.)16 Homeporting of Navy ships at Mayport reached recent peak of more than 30 ships,
including two CVs, in 1987, when the Navy as a whole reached a recent peak of 568 ships,
including 15 CVs and CVNs.
Although Mayport has previously serviced as a CV homeport, it has not previously served as a
CVN home port, and would require certain facility upgrades to be capable of homeporting a
CVN, including dredging and the construction of CVN nuclear propulsion plant maintenance
facilities.
Summary of Navy Rationale For Mayport CVN Homeporting
Admiral Gary Roughead summarized the Navy’s rationale for its desire to homeport a CVN at
Mayport in early 2010 testimony to Congress on the Navy’s proposed FY2011 budget:
Hampton Roads [Virginia] is the only nuclear carrier capable port on the East Coast. A
catastrophic event in the Hampton Roads Area affecting port facilities, shipping channels,
supporting maintenance or training infrastructure, or the surrounding community has the
potential to severely limit East Coast Carrier operations, even if the ships themselves are not
affected. Consistent with today’s dispersal of West Coast aircraft carriers between California
and Washington State, the QDR direction to make Naval Station Mayport a nuclear carrier-
capable homeport addresses the Navy’s requirement for a capable facility to maintain aircraft
carriers in the event that a natural or manmade disaster makes the Hampton Roads area
inaccessible. While there is an upfront cost to upgrade Naval Station Mayport to support our
nuclear aircraft carriers, Mayport has been a carrier homeport since 1952 and is the most
cost-effective means to achieve strategic dispersal on the East Coast. The national security
benefits of this additional homeport far outweigh those costs.17
Navy Announcement in January 2009 Record of Decision (ROD)
The Navy announced its desire to transfer a CVN to Mayport in a Record of Decision (ROD)
document dated January 14, 2009. The Navy stated in the ROD that a key reason it wants to
transfer a CVN to Mayport is to hedge against the risk of a catastrophic event that could damage
the Navy’s CVN homeporting facilities in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. The ROD states:

(...continued)
March 10, 2010; and Timothy J. Gibbons, “Mayport Lands Combat Ships,” Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville), March
11, 2010: 1. For more on the LCS program, see CRS Report RL33741, Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program:
Background, Issues, and Options for Congress
, by Ronald O'Rourke.
16 Source: Navy Listing of U.S. Naval Ship Battle Forces for 1979 to the present. CV-59 underwent SLEP overhaul in
1983-1985; CV-60 did so in 1980-1983.
17 Statement of Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, Before the House Armed Services Committee on
February 24, 2010, p. 20. Roughead included similar a similar passage in his testimony to the other defense committees
of Congress on the Navy’s proposed FY2011 budget.
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The DON decision to utilize the capacity at NAVSTA Mayport to homeport a CVN is the
culmination of a two and a half year process involving environmental analysis under the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), identification of the recurring and nonrecurring
costs associated with homeporting surface ships at NAVSTA Mayport, and an assessment of
strategic concerns....
The decision reached by the DON, as further explained later in this Record of Decision, is
based upon the DON’s environmental, operational, and strategic expertise and represents the
best military judgment of the DON’s leadership. The need to develop a hedge against the
potentially crippling results of a catastrophic event was ultimately the determining factor in
this decision-making process. The consolidation of CVN capabilities in the Hampton Roads
area on the East Coast presents a unique set of risks. CVNs assigned to the West Coast are
spread among three homeports. Maintenance and repair infrastructure exists at three
locations as well. As a result, there are strategic options available to Pacific Fleet CVNs
should a catastrophic event occur. By contrast, NAVSTA Norfolk is homeport to all five of
the CVNs assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and the Hampton Roads area is the only East Coast
location where CVN maintenance and repair infrastructure exists. It is the only location in
the U.S. capable of CVN construction and refueling. The Hampton Roads area also houses
all Atlantic Fleet CVN trained crews and associated community support infrastructure. There
are no strategic options available outside the Hampton Roads area for Atlantic Fleet CVNs
should a catastrophic event occur.18
Additional excerpts from the ROD are presented in Appendix C.
Analyses Informing Navy Desire to Transfer a CVN to Mayport
The Navy states that its desire to transfer a CVN to Mayport is informed by three analyses:
• a “strategic laydown analysis” that projected the future size and composition of
the Navy, and then apportioned that Navy between the Pacific Fleet and the
Atlantic Fleet,
• a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on alternatives for homeporting
additional surface ships at Mayport, and
• an analysis of the nonrecurring and recurring costs of homeporting ships at
Mayport.19
Each of these is discussed below.

18 Department of the Navy, Record of Decision for Homeporting of Additional Surface Ships at Naval Station Mayport,
Florida
, January 14, 2009, pp. 1-2.
19 Navy briefing to CRS, December 5, 2008, on Mayport homeporting. The Navy stated at the briefing that the strategic
laydown analysis began with an examination of Navy force structure requirements, meaning the numbers and types of
ships that the Navy would need in the future to perform its various missions. The force structure analysis, the Navy
stated, was followed by a global maritime posture for the year 2020 that in turn led to the Navy’s current plan for a
achieving and maintaining a 313-ship fleet. The 313-ship fleet, the Navy stated, became the baseline for the strategic
laydown The Navy stated that it then examined response times, maritime strategy, and direction from the 2006
Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) to determine the apportionment of the fleet between the Atlantic Coast, Pacific
Coast, and forward-deployed home ports.
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For additional background information on the Navy’s desire to transfer a CVN to Mayport, see
Appendix A, which reprints an appendix from a May 2010 Government Accountability Office
(GAO) report on the Navy’s basing decision process.20
Strategic Laydown Analysis
The strategic laydown analysis projected a future Navy fleet of 313 ships, including 11 CVNs.
(Navy plans since early-2006 have called for achieving and maintaining a 313-ship fleet with 11
CVNs.21) Based on an examination of projected future mission demands and other factors, the
Navy assigned 181 of these 313 ships (including 6 CVNs) to the Pacific Fleet, and 132 ships
(including 5 CVNs) to the Atlantic Fleet. This apportionment was then used to analyze the
amount of homeporting capacity that would be needed in coming years for Atlantic Fleet ships.
Homeporting capacity was measured in terms of linear feet of pier space, and expressed in terms
of cruiser equivalents (CGEs), with one CVN equaling four CGEs.
The analysis concluded that, given the 132 ships to be homeported on the Atlantic Coast and the
amount of homeporting capacity available at Norfolk and Little Creek, the Navy in coming years
would need 13 CGEs of surface ship homeporting capacity at an Atlantic Fleet location other than
Norfolk and Little Creek. The calculation assumed no double-breasting (i.e., side-by-side
mooring of two ships at a single pier) at Norfolk and Little Creek, and no construction of
additional pier space at Norfolk and Little Creek.
Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)
A Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on Mayport homeporting alternatives was
released in November 2008. The FEIS examined 12 alternatives for homeporting additional
surface ships at Mayport. Four of the 12 alternatives involved homeporting a CVN; another four
involved making Mayport capable of homeporting a CVN, but not immediately homeporting a
CVN there; and the remaining four did not involve making Mayport capable of homeporting a
CVN. Ten of the 12 alternatives also involved transferring additional ships other than a CVN—
various combinations of cruisers, destroyers, frigates, large-deck amphibious assault ships
(LHDs), and other amphibious ships (LPDs and LSDs)—to Mayport. The FEIS also assessed a
13th alternative of homeporting no additional ships at Mayport. Homeporting a single additional
ship—a CVN—was Alternative 4.
The FEIS identified Alternative 4 as the Navy’s preferred alternative. The FEIS, like the January
2009 ROD, stated that a key reason for the Navy’s desire to transfer a CVN to Mayport is to
hedge against the risk of a catastrophic event that could damage the Navy’s CVN homeporting
facilities in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. The FEIS stated:
Based on a thorough review of the alternatives, the Department of the Navy has determined
Alternative 4 to be its Preferred Alternative. Alternative 4 involves homeporting one CVN,
dredging, infrastructure and wharf improvements, and construction of CVN nuclear
propulsion plant maintenance facilities. Factors that influenced selection of Alternative 4 as

20 Government Accountability Office, Defense Infrastructure[:]Opportunities Exist to Improve the Navy’s Basing
Decision Process and DOD Oversight
, GAO-10-482, May 2010. 36 pp.
21 For a discussion, see CRS Report RL32665, Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues
for Congress
, by Ronald O'Rourke.
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the Preferred Alternative included impact analysis in the EIS, estimated costs of
implementation, including military construction and other operation and sustainment costs,
and strategic dispersal considerations. Homeporting a CVN at NAVSTA Mayport would
enhance distribution of CVN homeport locations to reduce risks to fleet resources in the
event of natural disaster, manmade calamity, or attack by foreign nations or terrorists. This
includes risks to aircraft carriers, industrial support facilities, and the people that operate and
maintain those crucial assets.
The aircraft carriers of the United States Navy are vital strategic assets that serve our national
interests in both peace and war. The President calls upon them for their unique ability to
provide both deterrence and combat support in times of crisis. Of the 11 aircraft carriers
currently in service, five are assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. Utilizing the capacity at
NAVSTA Mayport to homeport a CVN disperses critical Atlantic Fleet assets to reduce
risks, thereby enhancing operational readiness. Operational readiness is fundamental to the
Navy’s mission and obligation to the Commander in Chief.22
Nonrecurring and Recurring Costs
The Navy estimated the nonrecurring and recurring costs of each of the 12 options examined in
the FEIS for homeporting additional surface ships at Mayport.
Nonrecurring Costs
The Navy in 2008 estimated the nonrecurring (i.e., initial) cost of transferring a CVN to Mayport
at $565 million.23 The Navy has since updated this estimate, and as of February 2010 estimates
the cost at $589.7 million. Table 1 shows the breakdown of this estimate. The Navy states that the
figures shown in the table are rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimates that are subject to
change.

22 Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Final EIS for the Proposed Homeporting of Additional Surface
Ships At Naval Station Mayport, FL, Volume: Final Environmental Impact Statement
, November 2008, p. ES-16.
23 This figure included $456 million in Military Construction (MilCon) funding, a one-time maintenance cost of $85
million, and $24 million in personnel change of station (PCS) costs. The $456 million in MilCon funding included $30
million for planning and design work, and $426 million for dredging, infrastructure improvements, wharf
improvements, and construction of CVN nuclear propulsion plant maintenance facilities. (Source: Navy briefing
entitled “Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Proposed Homeporting of Additional Surface Ships at
Naval Station Mayport, FL,” November 18, 2008, presented to CRS on December 5, 2008.)
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Table 1. Estimated Non-Recurring Cost To Transfer a CVN to Mayport
(Millions of dollars, rounded to the nearest tenth; figures may not add due to rounding)
Item Estimated
cost
Military Construction (MilCon) Costs
Planning and design (P&D)
30.0
Dredging 46.3
Parking 30.9
Road improvements
15.9
Wharf F improvements
42.1
Controlled Industrial Facility (CIF)
150.7
Ship Maintenance Facility (SMF)
174.8
Subtotal MilCon Costs
490.7
Other One-Time Costs

Initial outfitting for CIF and SMF
73.0
Personnel Change of Station (PCS)
26.0
Subtotal Other One-Time Costs
99.0
TOTAL 589.7
Source: Navy information paper dated February 25, 2010, provided to CRS by Navy Office of legislative Affairs.
Notes: The Navy information paper states that the costs shown “represent Rough ORder of Magnitude (ROM)
[estimates] and will be subsequently amended prior to the annual budget submission” that “costs are subject to
change as specific projects get programmed for future execution,” and that “The projected dollars values may
adjust based on the timing of execution.”
Recurring Costs
The Navy estimated in late 2008 that, compared to the cost of homeporting a CVN at Norfolk,
homeporting a CVN at Mayport would result in an additional recurring (i.e., annual) cost of $25.5
million in constant calendar year 2010 (CY10) dollars. This estimate is a revision of an earlier
estimate of $20.4 million in recurring costs that was briefed to congressional offices following the
release of the FEIS. The Navy stated that the estimate of $25.5 million in additional recurring
costs
is based on an approximate yearly recurring cost of Base Operating Support (BOS) and
Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization (SRM) at $8.3M, Operations at $0.8M,
travel/per-diem for transitory maintenance labor which occur two of every three 32-month
operating cycles but annualized at $12.9M, permanent on-site labor at $5M and bi-annual
maintenance dredging to maintain the depth necessary for unrestricted carrier access
averaged out to $0.1M per year. It is anticipated that Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)
would show an annual savings of $1.6M.24

24 Source: Department of Defense information paper responding to questions from CRS, dated December 23, 2008 and
provided to CRS on January 6, 2009.
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Navy Summary of Its Comparison of Mayport and Norfolk
Table 2 reproduces a November 2008 Navy table that summarizes the Navy’s comparison of
Mayport and Norfolk in terms of certain operational characteristics and risk factors.
Table 2. Navy Table Comparing Mayport and Norfolk
Transit times
Response
to Respective
times to
Training
Man-Made
Physical Force

COCOMs
Ranges
Hurricane Risk
Disaster Risk
Protection
Norfolk Slight

No


Advantage
Advantage
Mayport Slight Slight
No
Slight
Slight
SOUTHCOM
Advantage
Advantage
Advantage
Advantage
Advantage
(HADR/GFS)
Source: Reproduction of Navy briefing slide entitled “Norfolk vs. Mayport,” in Navy briefing entitled “Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Proposed Homeporting of Additional Surface Ships at Naval
Station Mayport, FL,” November 18, 2008, presented to CRS on December 5, 2008. Emboldening as in the
original. At the bottom of the briefing slide, below the table, the slide stated: “Bottom Line: Most Compelling
Strategic Rationale to Homeport a CVN/LHA in Mayport is as a hedge against a catastrophic event in Norfolk..”
Notes: COCOMs means U.S. regional combatant commanders; SOUTHCOM means U.S. Southern
Command; HADR/GFS means humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations/Global Fleet Station. A
GFS is a Navy formation of one or more forward-deployed Navy ships that operates in an area so as to facilitate
peacetime U.S. engagement with one or more countries in that area. Amphibious and high-speed sealift ships
have served as the core ships of GFSs.
Local Economic Value of Homeporting a CVN
Serving as the home port for a CVN can generate substantial economic activity in the home port
area. This activity includes, among other things, the ship’s crew of more than 3,000 sailors
spending its pay at local businesses, the Navy purchasing supplies for the ship from local
businesses, and Navy expenditures for performing maintenance on the ship while it is in the home
port.
Various estimates have been reported of the value of homeporting a CVN to the economy of the
home port area. The FEIS estimates that transferring a CVN at Mayport would result in 2,900
more jobs, $220 million more in direct payroll, $208 million more in disposable income, and $10
million more in local tax contributions for the Mayport area.25 An August 2007 press report stated

25 The FEIS estimated the socioeconomic impacts of the various homeporting alternatives for Mayport. These impacts
were measured in relation to a 2006 baseline situation in which Mayport served as a home port to 22 ships, including
the carrier Kennedy. The FEIS assumed that homeporting a CVN at Mayport—Alternative 4—would result in a
situation of one CVN and 11 other surface ships being homeported at Mayport in 2014. The FEIS stated that, for the
Mayport area:
Under Alternative 4, the estimated construction impacts would total approximately $671 million
and result in 7,400 jobs. It is anticipated that the percent change for total dependents would be -13
percent [compared to the 2006 baseline], and total school age children would be reduced by 12
percent [compared to the 2006 baseline]. Average annual growth in direct jobs would be -2.1
percent [compared to the 2006 baseline], and total change in employment would be approximately
-2,000 jobs [compared to the 2006 baseline]. Direct payroll would be reduced by $150 million
[compared to the 2006 baseline], and change in disposable income would be reduced by a total of
(continued...)
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that “some reports put the [earlier] loss of the [aircraft carrier] George Washington at $450
million in payroll and 8,200 military and civilian jobs in Norfolk.”26 A November 2008 press
report from a Norfolk newspaper stated that “The regional chamber of commerce estimates a
carrier creates 11,000 jobs and $650 million in annual economic activity.”27 Another November
2008 press report states that “Jacksonville mayor John Peyton said the new carrier would bring
about 3,190 military jobs and pump about $500 million a year into the north Florida economy in
salaries and spending.”28 Another November 2008 press report states that “Virginians calculate
that the economic activity related to one carrier can reach $1 billion a year.”29
The Navy estimated that the initial $426 million in military construction work at Mayport would
generate a total of $671 million in initial economic activity.30

(...continued)
$141 million [compared to the 2006 baseline]. Estimated local tax contributions would be reduced
by approximately $6 million [compared to the 2006 baseline].
[Department of the Navy, Final EIS for the Proposed Homeporting of Additional Surface Ships at
Naval Station Mayport, FL, Volume I: Final Environmental Impact Statement
, November 2008, pp.
ES-29.]
Under the 13th alternative—the No Action Alternative—no additional ships would be homeported at Mayport, and
Mayport in 2014 would serve as the homeport to 11 surface ships, none of them a CVN. The FEIS stated that, for the
Mayport area:
Under the No Action Alternative, the percent change for total dependents would be -35 percent and
total school age children would decline by 32 percent as compared to the 2006 baseline. Average
annual growth in direct jobs would be -5.7 percent [compared to the 2006 baseline] and total
change in employment would be a loss of approximately 4,900 jobs [compared to the 2006
baseline]. Direct payroll would be reduced by $370 million [compared to the 2006 baseline], and
change in disposable income would decline by a total of $349 million [compared to the 2006
baseline]. Estimated local tax contributions would decrease by approximately $16 million
[compared to the 2006 baseline]. The NAVSTA Mayport population would decline, resulting in a
decline in on- and off-Station housing demand and occupancy rate.
[Department of the Navy, Final EIS for the Proposed Homeporting of Additional Surface Ships at
Naval Station Mayport, FL, Volume I: Final Environmental Impact Statement
, November 2008, pp.
ES-31.]
The difference between Alternative 4 and the No Action Alternative is the presence of the CVN (Alternative 4) or
absence of the CVN (No Action Alternative). Compared to the No Action Alternative, under Alternative 4 in the 2014
end state, there would be 2,900 more jobs (the difference between a loss of 2,000 jobs and a loss of 4,900 jobs), $220
million more in direct payroll (the difference between a reduction in direct payroll of $150 million and a reduction in
direct payroll of $370 million), $208 million more in disposable income (the difference between a decline in disposable
income of $141 million and a decline in disposable income of $349 million.), and $10 million more in local tax
contributions (the difference between a reduction in estimated local tax contributions of $6 million and a reduction in
estimated local tax contributions of $16 million).
26 Andrew Scutro, “Senators Lobby Mullen for Mayport Flattop,” NavyTimes.com, August 13, 2007.
27 Louis Hansen, “Use of Florida Site Vital to Carrier Safety, Navy Report Says,” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, November
22, 2008. These figures were repeated in Dale Eisman and Louis Hansen, “Va. Senators Try New Tack On Plan To
Move Carrier,” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, December 9, 2008; Dale Eisman and Louis Hansen, “Navy Appears To Have
Made Decision To Put Carrier In Florida,” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, December 20, 2008; Dale Eisman and Louis
Hansen, “Navy Backs Plan To Move A Carrier To Mayport, Florida,” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, January 15, 2009; Dale
Eisman, “Next Defense Team To Weigh Carrier’s Florida Move,” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, January 16, 2009.
28 Ron Word, “Fla. Officials: Do Not Delay Carrier Decision,” NavyTimes.com (Associated Press), November 25,
2008.
29 Roxana Tiron, “Nuclear Carrier Rift Expected To Spark Battle Between Dems,” The Hill, November 19, 2008.
30 The Navy states that:
The amount of $671M represents the estimated economic benefit to the region resulting from the
(continued...)
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FY2011 Funding Request
The Navy’s proposed FY2011 budget requests about $2 million in MilCon planning and design
funding for the project to establish a CVN homeport at Mayport.31
Issues for Congress
DOD’s proposal to homeport a CVN at Mayport has become an issue of strong interest to certain
Members of Congress from Florida and Virginia. Certain Members of Congress from Florida
have expressed support for DOD’s proposal to homeport a CVN at Mayport, arguing (as do DOD
and the Navy) that the benefits in terms of mitigating risks to the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet CVNs are
worth the costs associated with moving a CVN to Mayport. Certain Members of Congress from
Virginia have expressed skepticism regarding, or opposition to, the proposal, arguing that the
benefits in terms of mitigating risks to the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet CVNs are questionable or
uncertain, and that the funding needed to implement the proposal could achieve greater benefits if
it were spent on other Navy priorities. For examples of Member views on the issue, see
Appendix E.
Since a key reason the Navy wants to transfer a CVN to Mayport is to hedge against the risk of a
catastrophic event that could damage the Navy’s CVN homeporting facilities in the Hampton
Roads area of Virginia, potential questions for Congress to consider include the following:
• What is the risk of a catastrophic event damaging Atlantic Coast CVN
homeporting facilities, and how might that risk be altered by homeporting a CVN
at Mayport?
• If a catastrophic event were to damage Atlantic Coast CVN homeporting
facilities, what would be the operational impact on the Navy, and how quickly
could the Navy repair the damage and return to normal operations?
• Are the costs associated with homeporting a CVN at Mayport worth the benefits
in terms of hedging against the risk of a catastrophic event damaging Atlantic
Coast CVN homeporting facilities?
In assessing these and other questions relating to the Navy’s desire to transfer a CVN to Mayport,
Congress may consider several specific issues, including the following:
• the Navy’s basing decision process;

(...continued)
federal investment of military construction dollars (i.e., the “ripple effect”), not just the budgeted
construction costs. The figure is derived from [the] IMPLAN model, a regional economic modeling
program. The $671M includes direct impacts ($426M in MILCON), indirect impacts ($91M in
related economic sector expenditures), and induced impacts ($154M in additional household
spending derived from income gained through direct and indirect effects).
(Source: Department of Defense information paper responding to questions from congressional
offices, dated December 19, 2008, and provided to CRS on January 6, 2009, question/request 42.)
31 Source: Navy Office of Legislative Affairs telephone conversation with CRS on April 1, 2010. See also the spoken
testimony of Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn III at a March 4, 2010, hearing before the House Budget
Committee on DOD’s proposed FY2011 budget.
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• the Navy’s strategic laydown analysis;
• the Navy’s estimated recurring and nonrecurring costs for homeporting a CVN at
Mayport;
• transit times from Norfolk and Mayport to key destinations;
• the vulnerability of Norfolk and Mayport to natural and man-made catastrophes;
• other factors that might differentiate Norfolk and Mayport;
• the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on Mayport homeporting
options;
• potential options for Mayport homeporting other than those studied in the FEIS;
and
• potential alternative uses of the funding that would be required for homeporting a
CVN at Mayport.
Each of these specific issues is discussed below.
Navy’s Basing Decision Process
One issue that Congress may consider is the Navy’s basing decision process. A May 2010 GAO
report on the Navy’s basing decision process done in response to direction in the House Armed
Services Committee’s report (H.Rept. 111-166 of June 18, 2009, pages 537-538) on the FY2010
defense authorization bill (H.R. 2647) states:
The Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force basing decision processes fully incorporate the key
elements, associated factors, and management control standards that GAO identified as
necessary in a comprehensive process; however, the Navy needs additional guidance for its
process to be complete. GAO found that while the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force each
have issued comprehensive guidance for their basing possesses that describes the
organizational roles and responsibilities within the service, establishes links among all of the
service’s strategic and environmental guidance documents, and identifies the service’s basing
criteria, some of the Navy’s guidance documents lacked detailed information about specific
actions taken during the process and defined responsibility for completing certain types of
analyses. For example, the Navy’s Strategic Dispersal Flow Chart—one of the five guidance
documents used to implement the Navy’s process—shows that some types of analyses are
conducted to review a range of considerations, such as access to training areas, sailor and
family quality of life, and ship size, for a particular basing decision. But the document does
not describe in any detail how and by whom these analyses will be conducted. Additionally,
Navy guidance does not provide a clear explanation of how its five guidance documents are
linked together in implementing the Navy’s overall basing process. Without comprehensive
and clear guidance on all aspects of the Navy’s overall basing decision process, the Navy
may lack the completeness and management control to ensure that Navy basing decisions can
facilitate external stakeholders’ examination and scrutiny or ensure effective implementation
of the Navy’s basing process.
The Secretary of Defense has not set a policy or assigned an office a clear role for providing
management control of the services’ basing decision processes within the United States, and
as a consequence may lack reasonable assurance that certain departmentwide initiatives will
be fully supported in the services’ basing decisions. The Office of the Secretary of Defense
(OSD) officials said that OSD is promoting joint sharing of DOD facilities and seeking to
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ensure that domestic basing decisions support global operations. However, OSD has not
fully promoted service consideration of the joint sharing, global operations, and potentially
other initiatives because the Secretary of Defense has neither provided a comprehensive
policy for, nor clearly assigned an office within OSD to oversee domestic service basing
processes. Without OSD guidance and an office to provide effective oversight of military
service basing decision processes, the Secretary of Defense lacks reasonable assurance that
departmentwide initiatives are adequately considered by the services in their domestic basing
decision making. 32
Strategic Laydown Analysis
A second issue that Congress may consider is the Navy’s strategic laydown analysis. As
mentioned earlier, this analysis projected a future fleet of 313 ships (including 11 CVNs), of
which 181 ships (including 6 CVNs) would be assigned to the Pacific Fleet and 132 ships
(including 5 CVNs) would be assigned to the Atlantic Fleet.
Some observers in recent years have raised questions about the affordability of the Navy’s
shipbuilding plans, and thus about the Navy’s prospective ability to increase the fleet from its
current size of about 286 ships33 to the planned size of 313 ships.34 Supporters of keeping all
Atlantic Fleet CVNs homeported at Norfolk could argue that if the Navy in coming years
includes fewer than 313 ships or fewer than 11 CVNs, there will be less need to shift a CVN from
Norfolk to Mayport for reasons relating to homeporting capacity. Supporters of homeporting a
CVN at Mayport could argue that if the Navy in coming years includes fewer than 313 ships or
fewer than 11 CVNs, each ship or each CVN would represent a larger percentage of the Navy’s
overall capability, making the need to hedge against a catastrophic event in the Hampton Roads
area more important.
Additional factors that Congress may consider in connection with the strategic laydown analysis
include the Navy’s projected apportionment of the fleet between the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts
(which reflects, among other things, a Navy judgment about likely potential missions for the
Navy), the potential for “breasting’ (i.e., side-by-side mooring of two or more ships at a single
pier), and the cost of increasing homeporting capacity at Norfolk through construction of
additional pier space and other facilities.
Nonrecurring and Recurring Costs
A third issue that Congress may consider is whether the Navy has accurately estimated the
nonrecurring and recurring costs of homeporting a CVN at Mayport. Other things held equal, if
the Navy has underestimated or overestimated these costs, it might weaken or strengthen,
respectively, the argument for homeporting a CVN at Mayport.

32 Government Accountability Office, Defense Infrastructure[:]Opportunities Exist to Improve the Navy’s Basing
Decision Process and DOD Oversight
, GAO-10-482, May 2010, summary page.
33 The Navy as of April 1, 2010, included 286 ships.
34 For more on the Navy’s planned 313-ship fleet, see CRS Report RL32665, Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding
Plans: Background and Issues for Congress
, by Ronald O'Rourke.
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Transit Times
A fourth issue that Congress may consider is whether the Navy has accurately assessed the
relative merits of Norfolk and Mayport in terms of transit times to key overseas operating areas
and training ranges, as shown in the first two columns of Table 2. Transit times are a function of
transit distance and transit speed.
With regard to transit times to key overseas operating areas, one key destination is the Strait of
Gibraltar, which is used to support operations in the Mediterranean and (via the Suez canal) the
Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. Other key destinations include the Cape of Good Hope (a longer
route to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf, but one that avoids the need to transit the Suez canal),
and Puerto Rico (which might be considered a representative destination for supporting
operations in the Caribbean). Table 3 shows transit times from Norfolk and Mayport to these
three destinations at 14 knots (a typical transit speed for routine forward deployments) and 20
knots (an elevated transit speed that might be more likely for responding to a contingency).
Table 3. Transit Times To Key Destinations
In days, as a function of transit speed


Transit speed
Destination
From
14 knots
20 knots
Strait of Gibraltar
Mayport
11.1
7.6
Norfolk
9.9 7.0
Cape of Good Hope
Mayport
34.8
24.4
Norfolk
34.8 24.3
Puerto Rico
Mayport
6.2
4.3
Norfolk
6.9 4.8
Source: Navy briefing slide entitled “Average Transit Times East/West,” in Navy briefing entitled “Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Proposed Homeporting of Additional Surface Ships at Naval
Station Mayport, FL,” November 18, 2008, presented to CRS on December 5, 2008; and (for Puerto Rico)
Department of Defense information paper responding to questions from CRS, dated December 23, 2008 and
provided to CRS on January 6, 2009.
Port Vulnerability
A fifth issue that Congress may consider is whether the Navy has accurately assessed
vulnerability-related factors at Norfolk and Mayport, including the risk of a natural or man-made
catastrophic event damaging CVN homeporting facilities, and the Navy’s ability to defend against
such an event at either site. The Navy’s summary of its assessments of these factors is shown in
the third, fourth and fifth columns of the Navy slide reproduced in Table 2.
In assessing the question of port vulnerability, one factor that might be considered is the current
degree of concentration or dispersion of Navy ships other than Atlantic Fleet CVNs. For example,
supporters of transferring a CVN to Mayport might observe that the Navy’s Pacific Fleet CVN
homeporting facilities are currently located in three widely separated areas (San Diego, the Puget
Sound area of Washington state, and Yokosuka, Japan), while supporters of keeping all Atlantic
Fleet CVNs homeported at Norfolk might observe that the Navy’s Pacific Fleet and Atlantic Fleet
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ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs)—which, like CVNs, are low-quantity, high-value assets—
are homeported at a single site on each coast (Bangor, WA, and Kings Bay, GA, respectively).
Natural Disaster
As shown in Table 2, hurricanes were the principal type of natural disaster that the Navy
analyzed in comparing the relative risk of a natural disaster at Hampton Roads and Mayport. The
Navy assesses that, historically, the hurricane risk to Norfolk is similar to the risk to Jacksonville,
which is close to Mayport. Information provided by the Navy regarding the risk of hurricanes at
Norfolk and Mayport is presented in the Appendix D of this report.
Man-Made Disaster
Potential man-made disasters include but are not limited to shipping accidents, conventional or
nuclear military attacks by foreign countries, and terrorist attacks.
During the Cold War, the Navy was concerned about the potential for a conventional military
attack on U.S. home ports by Soviet military forces. One possibility was a covert mining of U.S.
Navy home ports by Soviet submarines and Warsaw Pact merchant ships prior to the start of a
NATO-Warsaw Pact conflict. Another possibility was a cruise missile strike by Soviet submarines
against Navy port facilities or ships in port. Concern over the potential for a conventional military
attack on U.S. home ports by Soviet military forces was the central reason for the Navy’s strategic
homeporting program of the 1980s, which dispersed some of the Navy’s ships away from the
Navy’s major home ports.35
The end of the Cold War reduced the apparent risk of a conventional military attack on U.S. Navy
home ports by a foreign country, and led to a reconsideration of the strategic homeporting
program.36 China is modernizing its naval and other military forces,37 but any potential ability
China might have in coming years for conducting a conventional attack on U.S. home ports might
be more of an issue for Pacific Fleet home ports than for Atlantic Fleet home ports.
The terrorist attack of October 12, 2000, on the destroyer Cole (DDG-67) in the port of Aden,
Yemen,38 and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have led to increased focus on the
potential for terrorist attacks on U.S. port areas.
The Navy states that DOD and other U.S. government entities conducted several vulnerability
assessments for Norfolk and Mayport between 2006 and 2008.39 The contents of these
assessments are generally classified.

35 See CRS Issue Brief IB85193, The Navy’s Strategic Homeporting Program: Issues for Congress, by Ronald
O’Rourke. This issue brief is out of print and is available directly from the author.
36 See CRS Issue Brief IB90077, Strategic Homeporting Reconsidered, by Ronald O’Rourke. This issue brief is out of
print and is available directly from the author.
37 See CRS Report RL33153, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and
Issues for Congress
, by Ronald O'Rourke.
38 For a discussion of this attack, see CRS Report RS20721, Terrorist Attack on USS Cole: Background and Issues for
Congress
, by Raphael F. Perl and Ronald O'Rourke.
39 In response to a question from CRS regarding vulnerability assessments for Norfolk and Mayport, the Navy stated
the following (which has been edited for ease of reading):
(continued...)
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The Navy states that it used statistics on shipping volumes at the ports of Norfolk and
Jacksonville (near Mayport) as one measure of the relative risk of a man-made disaster at Norfolk
and Mayport, the idea being that certain elements of the risk of man-made disaster are somewhat
proportional to the volume of shipping. The Navy states that in 2006, 2.05 million cargo
containers and 16.6 million tons of cargo passed through the port of Norfolk, while 768,200 cargo
containers and 8.31 million tons of cargo passed through the port of Jacksonville.40 The Navy
further states that the center of the shipping channel in the port of Norfolk is about 500 yards
from the carrier piers, and that the channel is separated from the piers by a line of buoys but no
fixed obstruction, while the center of the shipping channel in the port of Jacksonville is also about
500 yards from the carrier pier, but is separated from the carrier pier by a 200-yard-wide spit of
land.41
Other Factors That Might Differentiate Norfolk and Mayport
A sixth issue that Congress may consider is whether the Navy has overlooked or not given
adequate weight to other factors in evaluating the merits of Mayport and Norfolk as Navy home
ports. Possibilities might include things such as the interaction of the base facilities at Mayport or
Norfolk with other regional military facilities (such as naval air stations), or the possible effect of
CVN homeporting on Navy recruiting in the area surrounding the home port.

(...continued)
The Joint Staff sponsored a Joint Staff Integrated Vulnerability Assessment (JSIVA) on Naval
Station Norfolk that was conducted from August 6 to August 11, 2006. The team conducting the
assessment was composed of seven specialists from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency
(DTRA). The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) conducted a Chief of Naval Operations
Integrated Vulnerability Assessment (CNOIVA) for Naval Station Mayport from January 21 to
January 26, 2007. Threat assessments conducted by NCIS through the Multiple Threat Alert Center
(MTAC) prior to specific events, such as air shows, also serve as threat updates for other
Department of the Navy commands located in the geographic area. NCIS also conducts Port
Integrated Vulnerability Assessments (PIVA) for ports and facilities that are not USN bases.
Additional vulnerability and threat assessments that were completed include the following: a
Southeast Virginia Threat Assessment that was conducted from August 27 to October 7, 2008; a
Mayport Threat Assessment dated May 30, 2008; a Jacksonville Threat Assessment dated October
1, 2008; an FBI assessment entitled “Domestic Maritime Domain Terrorist Threat Assessment”
dated March 28, 2008; an update to that assessment entitled “Domestic Maritime Domain Terrorist
Threat Assessment (Update)” dated April 17, 2008; a Department of Homeland Security
assessment entitled “Homeland Security Threat Assessment: Evaluating Threats 2008-2013” dated
July 18, 2008; a U.S. Coast Guard assessment entitled “The Terrorist Threat to the U.S. Maritime
Domain” dated March 25, 2004; and a Director of National Intelligence assessment entitled “The
Terrorist Threat to the US Homeland” dated July 2007. (Source: Department of Defense
information paper responding to questions from CRS, dated December 23, 2008 and provided to
CRS on January 6, 2009.)
40 The cargo containers were measured in Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), a standard metric for counting cargo
containers.
41 Source: Slide entitled “Shipping—Man Made Disaster Risk,” from Navy briefing entitled “Final Environmental
Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Proposed Homeporting of Additional Surface Ships at Naval Station Mayport, FL,”
November 18, 2008, presented to CRS on December 5, 2008.
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Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)42
A seventh issue that Congress may consider is the adequacy of the FEIS that the Navy prepared to
assess the potential environmental impacts of locating a nuclear carrier at Mayport. The National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires all federal agencies to prepare environmental impact
statements for major actions that would significantly affect the environment. The scope of these
statements are broader than the environment per se, as agencies are required to examine not only
the potential impacts on the natural environment but also the socio-economic impacts of a
proposed action. Some observers have questioned whether the Navy thoroughly assessed these
sets of impacts when it selected Mayport for the location of a CVN.43
Mayport Homeporting Options Other Than Those Studied
An eighth issue that Congress may consider are potential options for homeporting additional
ships at Mayport that differ from the 12 alternatives studied in the FEIS. One such possibility,
which the FEIS mentioned but did not examine in detail, would be to homeport some number of
Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) at Mayport. LCSs, which are just beginning to enter service with
the Navy, are somewhat smaller than the Navy’s frigates and are to have much smaller crews.44
As mentioned earlier, the Navy reported to Congress in February 2010 that the service envisages
Mayport is as the primary Atlantic Fleet homeporting location for the Navy’s new Littoral
Combat Ships (LCSs). (The report identifies Little Creek, VA, as the Navy’s envisaged secondary
Atlantic Fleet LCS homeporting location, and Norfolk as the Navy’s envisaged tertiary Atlantic
Fleet LCS homeporting location.)45Another possibility would be to homeport two CVNs rather
than one CVN at Mayport. As mentioned earlier, Mayport served as a home port for two CVs for
several years during the 1980s.
Alternative Uses of Funding
A ninth issue that Congress may consider are potential alternative uses by the Navy or some other
part of DOD of the funding that would be needed for homeporting a CVN at Mayport, and how
the benefits of those potential alternative uses would compare to the benefits of homeporting a
CVN at Mayport.

42 This section was drafted by David M. Bearden, Specialist in Environmental Policy, Resources, Science, and Industry
Division.
43 See, for example, Dale Eisman and Louis, “Va. Senators Try New Tack On Plan To Move Carrier,” Norfolk
Virginian-Pilot
, December 9, 2008.
44 For more on the LCS program, see CRS Report RL33741, Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background,
Issues, and Options for Congress
, by Ronald O'Rourke.
45 Department of the Navy, Report on Strategic Plan for Homeporting the Littoral Combat Ship, February 2010, p. 5.
See also Zachary M. Peterson, “Navy Report Outlines Notional Littoral Combat Ship Homeporting Strategy,” Inside
the Navy
, March 8, 2010; Christopher P. Cavas, “Mayport To Get First East Coast Littoral Ships,” NavyTimes.com,
March 10, 2010; and Timothy J. Gibbons, “Mayport Lands Combat Ships,” Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville), March
11, 2010: 1.
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Legislative Activity for FY2011
FY2011 Funding Request
The Navy’s proposed FY2011 budget was submitted to Congress on February 1, 2010. The
budget requests about $2 million in MilCon planning and design funding for the project to
establish a CVN homeport at Mayport.46
FY2011 Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 5136)
House
Section 2201(c)(4) of the FY2011 defense authorization bill (H.R. 5136) as reported by the House
Armed Services Committee (H.Rept. 111-491 of May 21, 2010) states: “None of the funds
appropriated pursuant to this authorization of appropriations may be used for architectural and
engineering services and construction design of any military construction project necessary to
establish a homeport for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at Naval Station Mayport, Florida.”
H.Rept. 111-491 includes report language requiring the Navy and GAO to submit reports
concerning the costs and maintenance impacts of homeporting a CVN at Mayport.
H.Rept. 111-491 states:
East Coast Homeport Cost Assessment
The committee is concerned that the full costs associated with the planned second East coast
homeport for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has been underestimated, introducing a
measure of budgetary risk and potential shortfalls in future year’s defense budget
submissions. The committee directs that, not later than February 15, 2011, the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) submit to the congressional defense committees a report
containing an independent estimate of the total direct and indirect costs to be incurred by the
Federal Government in homeporting a nuclear carrier at Mayport, Florida. (Page 507)
The report also states:
Naval Station Mayport, Florida, Homeporting Alternatives
The committee directs the Secretary of the Navy to report to the congressional defense
committees, not later than December 15, 2010, on the implementation and recurring costs of
homeporting alternatives including the following homeporting options at Naval Station
Mayport:
(1) Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier;
(2) Littoral Combat Ships;

46 Source: Navy Office of Legislative Affairs telephone conversation with CRS on April 1, 2010. See also the spoken
testimony of Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn III at a March 4, 2010, hearing before the House Budget
Committee on DOD’s proposed FY2011 budget.
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(3) Non-nuclear options considered in the “Environmental Impact Statement for
Homeporting of Additional Surface Ships at Naval Station Mayport” signed January 14,
2009; and
(4) Other options that the Secretary considers appropriate. Such a review shall include an
assessment of one-time and recurring operation and maintenance requirements and military
construction requirements associated with the various alternatives. This report shall review
the benefits to the northeast Florida ship maintenance industrial base that could result from
the homeporting of non-nuclear vessels at the installation.
The committee notes that the estimates for the costs of homeporting a nuclear aircraft carrier
at Naval Station Mayport continue to rise, and may cost as much as $1 billion in military
construction and recurring operation and maintenance costs.
The committee believes that a better assessment of these cost estimates of the various
alternatives is warranted. The committee also believes that a complement of non-nuclear-
powered surface combatants could be more compatible with the existing support structure at
Naval Station Mayport and less expensive than duplicating a nuclear maintenance capability
that already exists on the East Coast. The committee also notes that the northeast Florida
ship maintenance industrial base could be enhanced if the Department of the Navy were to
base non-nuclear-powered ships at Naval Station Mayport. Naval Station Mayport already
has the pier infrastructure necessary to homeport non-nuclear-powered surface combatant
ships, and the maintenance requirements of these alternative homeporting solutions appear to
be more closely matched to the expertise of the existing local ship repair industrial base.
Finally, the committee understands that a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier homeported at
Naval Station Mayport could undergo at the installation only two of the four types of
scheduled carrier maintenance availabilities: the Carrier Incremental Availability and the
Planned Incremental Availability. These activities would likely provide the local private
shipyards with combined yearly revenues of only approximately $20 million. Furthermore,
the Navy has indicated that the remaining two types of scheduled nuclear maintenance
availabilities can be conducted only in the Norfolk area, requiring a temporary shift in
homeport to Norfolk to complete these availabilities. The committee believes that such a
temporary shift in homeport could present an additional requirement on carrier crews and
their families that could be avoided if Naval Station Mayport were resourced with non-
nuclear-powered ships. (Pages 510-511)
The report also states:
Use of Temporary Shipyard Workforce for Nuclear Maintenance
According to the final environmental impact statement for the proposed homeporting of
additional surface ships at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, homeporting of a nuclear-
powered aircraft carrier (CVN) would result in “temporary surges of maintenance employees
associated with the three-year depot-level maintenance cycle for the CVN.” The committee
is concerned about the impact the addition of depot-level workload at Mayport would have
on the sustainability, efficiency, capabilities, and stability of the fly-away teams from the
nuclear propulsion depot maintenance workforce used under the Navy’s “One Nuclear
Shipyard” concept. The committee directs the Comptroller General of the United States to
provide an assessment to the congressional defense committees by February 15, 2011, of the
readiness and cost impacts of CVN homeporting and maintenance at Naval Station Mayport
on the U.S. nuclear power-plant depot maintenance workforce. (Page 254)
The report also states:
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Ship Maintenance Industrial Base Support
The committee is concerned that the Navy’s recommendation to homeport a nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier (CVN) at Naval Station Mayport (NAVSTA Mayport), Florida, could result
in the relocation of a critical warfighting asset to a region that may lack the ship maintenance
industrial base necessary to meet the specialized repair, maintenance, and related readiness
requirements of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Even though the Navy plans to build the
necessary facilities at considerable cost, no plan has been presented to address the lack of a
trained, highly skilled workforce necessary to staff those facilities and maintain these
complex systems. As a result, the committee understands that implementation of the Navy’s
recommendation would require maintenance teams from other nuclear-powered aircraft
carrier homeport locations to be sent to NAVSTA Mayport temporarily to support
maintenance requirements, potentially at significant additional cost.
Additionally, the committee is aware that the existing private ship maintenance assets
located in the Jacksonville, Florida, region has evolved to support the current fleet of non-
nuclear-powered ships at NAVSTA Mayport. Under current ship retirement plans, these
private ship maintenance capabilities will face severe work reductions, placing their
continued existence in jeopardy. The committee does not believe that placing a critical
warfighting asset at a location with inadequate maintenance support capabilities,
implementing a recommendation that could result in significantly increased ship
maintenance costs, or allowing the nation’s ship maintenance industrial base to erode are
acceptable outcomes.
Therefore, the committee directs the Secretary of the Navy to provide a report to the
congressional defense committees by December 15, 2010, on the ability of the private ship
maintenance industrial base in northeast Florida to support nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
maintenance requirements, the likely costs to the Navy that could result from establishing
such maintenance capabilities within the local industrial base, and the impacts on costs and
workforce scheduling that could result if the Navy must provide the maintenance workforce
from another nuclear-powered aircraft carrier homeport location. In addition, the Secretary is
directed to submit a copy of the report to the Comptroller General of the United States
concurrent with submission to the congressional defense committees.
The committee directs the Comptroller General to provide an assessment of the report to the
congressional defense committees within 90 days after receiving the report by the Secretary
of the Navy. The assessment should:
(1) Review the Navy’s report for thoroughness and completeness;
(2) Assess the ability of the northeast Florida industrial base to develop capabilities to
support nuclear-powered aircraft carrier maintenance requirements;
(3) Assess how, over a 10-year budget window, the construction of CVN maintenance
facilities at NAVSTA Mayport will affect CVN maintenance costs, including recurring and
non-recurring costs; and
(4) Assess whether homeporting a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at NAVSTA Mayport
would provide sufficient workload to allow the local ship repair industrial base to remain
viable in light of current ship retirement plans. (Pages 260-261)
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Appendix A. Additional Background Information
from May 2010 GAO Report

This appendix reprints Appendix II from a May 2010 GAO report on the Navy’s basing decision
process.47

47 Government Accountability Office, Defense Infrastructure[:]Opportunities Exist to Improve the Navy’s Basing
Decision Process and DOD Oversight
, GAO-10-482, May 2010. 36 pp.
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Appendix B. Prior-Year Legislative Activity
FY2010
FY2010 Military Construction Funding Request
The Navy’s proposed FY2010 budget requested $46.303 million in Military Construction
(MilCon) funding for channel dredging at Mayport to support the ability of a CVN to enter
Mayport. The budget also requested $29.682 million in MilCon funding to repair a wharf (Wharf
Charlie) at Mayport, but this request was not related to Mayport’s ability to support a CVN—it
was related to Mayport’s current role as a home port to CGs, DDGs, and FFGs. Together, a total
of $75.985 million was requested for channel dredging (CVN-related) and wharf repair (not
CVN-related) at Mayport.
FY2010 Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2647/P.L. 111-84)
House
The House Armed Services Committee, in its report (H.Rept. 111-166 of June 18, 2009) on H.R.
2647, recommended rejecting the Administration’s FY2010 request for $46.3 million in MilCon
funding for channel dredging at Mayport. (Page 496) The committee’s report stated:
The budget request included $46,303,000 to support construction dredging of the Naval
Station Mayport turning basin, inner channel, and outer channel.
The committee is concerned that a decision to complete the construction dredging of Naval
Station Mayport would predispose a Quadrennial Defense Review’s determination as to an
East Coast Nuclear Aircraft Carrier basing.
Accordingly, the committee recommends $0, a reduction of $46,303,000, to support this
project. (Page 516).
The committee’s report also stated:
Comptroller General Assessment of Military Basing Decision Process
The committee directs the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to the
congressional defense committees by May 1, 2010, on the military services’ decision process
used in making basing determinations, such as the decision to establish a second homeport
for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier on the East Coast of the United States. The committee
believes this decision raises significant strategic, cost, and risk questions.
It is not clear to the committee how the Navy has been determining its basing decisions. For
example, the Navy’s consideration of whether to homeport additional surface ships at Naval
Station Mayport (NAVSTA Mayport), Florida, appears to lack strategic depth. The
committee notes that homeporting a nuclear aircraft carrier at NAVSTA Mayport would cost
at least $560.0 million in military construction, require the dredging and disposal of
approximately 5.2 million cubic yards of dredge material, and increase long-term operation
and maintenance costs. The Navy does not appear to have carried out a comprehensive
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process to determine the need for such expenditures with consideration for strategic
rationale, fiscal realities, environmental impacts, and personnel impacts associated with the
decision.
In light of the substantial costs and the strategic and community impacts that result from
basing decisions, the committee directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study on the
manner in which the military services consider and utilize the following in making basing
decisions: changes to military force structure, strategic imperative and risk assessment, input
from combatant commanders, cost, and environmental and socio-economic impacts.
Specifically, the review should address the following:
(1) Military force structure considerations: When rebasing military assets from one
installation to another, the processes the military services use to assess the impact
associated with the current and future home stations or homeports.
(2) Strategic imperative and risk assessment: The extent to which the military services
consider strategic shifts in force posture, such as the shift of naval assets from the
Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, in basing decisions. When making basing decisions
related to strategic dispersal of military assets, the process used by the services to
conduct and consider risk assessments. In making the nuclear aircraft carrier
homeporting decision, how the Navy weighed the comparative risk between the
different needs of the Navy. For example, the consideration the Navy gave to building
an additional nuclear aircraft carrier homeport at Naval Station Mayport versus failing
to meet ship maintenance and repair shortfalls, or the need for a 313–ship Navy.
(3) Cost: The extent to which the military services use a cost-benefit analysis in making
basing decisions and the extent to which the budgetary requirements of the entire
military service and Department of Defense are considered; the consideration given in
the decision-making process to shortfalls in other service budgets and other internal
budget accounts; and how the services’ analyses compare the strategic benefits of
expending funds for one purpose (such as the construction of additional infrastructure)
to the use of funds for other purposes (such as meeting unfunded procurement
requirements) in determining whether to proceed with a decision. (Pages 537-538)
Senate
Section 2201 of the FY2010 defense authorization bill (S. 1390) as reported by the Senate Armed
Services Committee (S.Rept. 111-35 of July 2, 2009) recommended approving the
Administration’s FY2010 request for a total of $75.985 million for MilCon projects (including
the channel dredging project) at Mayport. (See page 753 of the printed bill.) The committee’s
report did not contain any narrative language directly discussing the issue of carrier homeporting
at Mayport.
Section 114 of S. 1390 would require the Navy to submit a report to the congressional defense
committees on a potential service life extension program (SLEP) for the Navy’s Oliver Hazard
Perry (FFG-7) class frigates. FFG-7s account for several of the surface combatants currently
homeported at Mayport, and the FFG-7s homeported at Mayport are currently scheduled to be
retired from Navy service by 2014. The text of Section 114 is as follows:
SEC. 114. REPORT ON A SERVICE LIFE EXTENSION PROGRAM FOR OLIVER
HAZARD PERRY CLASS FRIGATES.
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Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Navy
shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report setting forth the following:
(1) A detailed analysis of a service life extension program (SLEP) for the Oliver Hazard
Perry class frigates (FFGs), including—
(A) the cost of the program;
(B) a schedule for the program; and
(C) the shipyards available to carry out the work under the program.
(2) A detailed plan of the Navy for achieving a 313-ship fleet as contemplated by the 2006
Quadrennial Defense Review, including a comparison for purposes of that plan of
decommissioning Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates as scheduled with extending the service
life of such frigates under the service life extension program.
(3) The strategic plan of the Navy for the manner in which the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)
will fulfill the roles and missions currently performed by the Oliver Hazard Perry class
frigates as they are decommissioned.
(4) The strategic plan of the Navy for the Littoral Combat Ship if the extension of the service
life of the Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates alleviates demand arising under the current
capabilities gap in the Littoral Combat Ship.
(5) A description of the manner in which the Navy has met the needs of the United States
Southern Command over time, including the assets and vessels the Navy has deployed for
military-to-military engagements, UNITAS exercises, and counterdrug operations in support
of the Commander of the United States Southern Command during the five-year period
ending on the date of the report.
Section 112 of S. 1390 would require the Navy to submit a report to the congressional defense
committees on the Navy’s plans for homeporting Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs). Under current
Navy plans, LCSs are to replace Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) class frigates in the Navy’s force
structure. The text of Section 112 is as follows:
SEC. 112. REPORT ON STRATEGIC PLAN FOR HOMEPORTING THE LITTORAL
COMBAT SHIP.
(a) Report Required- Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of the Navy shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report setting
forth the strategic plan of the Navy for homeporting the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) on the
East Coast and West Coast of the United States.
(b) Elements- The report required by subsection (a) shall include the following:
(1) The requirements for homeporting of the Littoral Combat ship of the commanders of the
combatant commands, set forth by geographic area of responsibility (AOR).
(2) A description of the manner in which the Navy will meet the requirements identified
under paragraph (1).
(3) An assessment of the effect of each type of Littoral Combat Ship on each port in which
such ship could be homeported.
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(4) A map, based on the current plan of 55 Littoral Combat Ships, identifying where each
ship will homeport and how such ports will accommodate both types of Littoral Combat
Ships, based on the current program and a 313-ship Navy.
(5) An estimate of the costs of infrastructure required for Littoral Combat Ships at each
homeport, including—
(A) existing infrastructure; and
(B) such upgraded infrastructure as may be required.
Conference
The conference report (H.Rept. 111-288 of October 7, 2009) on H.R. 2647/P.L. 111-84 of October
28, 2009, authorized the Administration’s FY2010 request for $46.3 million in MilCon funding
for channel dredging at Mayport. (Page 633) The report states:
The conference agreement includes authorization for $46.3 million for channel and turning
basin dredging at Naval Station (NS) Mayport, Florida. The Navy requested this project in
order to allow a nuclear aircraft carrier to enter Naval Station Mayport on a temporary basis
with an embarked air wing, full stores, and under any tidal conditions. The conferees
authorize funding for this project based on the Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval
Operations’ assurances that the dredging is needed for current operational considerations to
permit the use of Mayport as a transient dock and is ‘‘required irrespective of the final
decision on aircraft carrier homeporting at Mayport.’’
The conferees emphasize that the inclusion of an authorization for dredging at NS Mayport
is not an indication of conferee support for the establishment of an additional homeport for
nuclear aircraft carriers on the east coast, or intended to influence the ongoing Quadrennial
Defense Review, which may include a recommendation on the establishment of a second
east coast homeport for nuclear aircraft carriers. Furthermore, the conferees note that this
funding is provided solely to permit use of Mayport as a transient port, and that any potential
designation of Mayport as a nuclear carrier homeport will require future authorizations from
the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives. (Page
870)
Section 127 required the Navy to submit a report to the congressional defense committees on a
potential service life extension program (SLEP) for the Navy’s Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) class
frigates. FFG-7s account for several of the surface combatants currently homeported at Mayport,
and the FFG-7s homeported at Mayport are currently scheduled to be retired from Navy service
by 2014. The text of Section 127 is as follows:
SEC. 127. REPORT ON A SERVICE LIFE EXTENSION PROGRAM FOR OLIVER
HAZARD PERRY CLASS FRIGATES.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Navy
shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report setting forth the following:
(1) A detailed analysis of a service life extension program for the Oliver Hazard Perry class
frigates, including—
(A) the cost of the program;
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(B) a notional schedule for the program; and
(C) the shipyards available to carry out the work under the program.
(2) The strategic plan of the Navy for—
(A) the manner in which the Littoral Combat Ship will fulfill the roles and missions currently
performed by the Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates as such frigates are decommissioned;
and
(B) the year-by-year planned commissioning of Littoral Combat Ships and planned
decommissioning of Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates through the projected service life of
the Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates.
(3) An analysis of the necessary procurement rates of Littoral Combat Ships if the extension
of the service life of the Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates alleviates capability gaps caused
by a delay in the procurement rates of Littoral Combat Ships.
(4) A description of the manner in which the Navy has met the requirements of the United
States Southern Command over time, including the assets and vessels the Navy has deployed
for military-to-military engagements, UNITAS exercises, and counterdrug operations in
support of the Commander of the United States Southern Command during the five-year
period ending on the date of the report.
Section 123 of the bill required the Navy to submit a report to the congressional defense
committees on the Navy’s plans for homeporting Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs). Under current
Navy plans, LCSs are to replace Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) class frigates in the Navy’s force
structure. The text of Section 123 is as follows:
SEC. 123. REPORT ON STRATEGIC PLAN FOR HOMEPORTING THE LITTORAL
COMBAT SHIP.
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—At the same time that the budget is submitted under section
1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, for fiscal year 2011, the Secretary of the Navy shall
submit to the congressional defense committees a report setting forth the strategic plan of the
Navy for homeporting the Littoral Combat Ship on the east coast and west coast of the
United States.
(b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection (a) shall include the following:
(1) An analysis of how the homeporting plan would support the requirements of the
commanders of the combatant commands, by geographic area of responsibility, for the
capabilities delivered by Littoral Combat Ships, including the notional transit times to the
various geographic areas of responsibility.
(2) An assessment of the effect that each type of Littoral Combat Ship would have on each
port in which such ship could be homeported, including an identification of the infrastructure
required to support each such ship with respect to—
(A) the availability of pier space with supporting ship services infrastructure, taking into
account the largest fleet size envisioned by the long-term plan for the construction of naval
vessels submitted for fiscal year 2011;
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(B) the logistical and maintenance support services required in any port chosen for the
Littoral Combat Ships; and
(C) any investment in naval station infrastructure required for homeporting Littoral Combat
Ships (including a plan for such investment).
(3) With respect to the projected force structure size of the Navy in fiscal year 2020, a
graphical depiction of the total planned ships berthing in the pier areas of any naval facility
chosen to homeport Littoral Combat Ships, including the identification of the ships berthing
plan for the maximum number of ships expected in-port at any one time.
The report required by Section 123 was submitted to Congress in February 2010.
FY2010 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act (H.R.
3082/H.R. 3288/P.L. 111-117)

House
The House Appropriations Committee, in its report (H.Rept. 111-188 of June 26, 2009) on H.R.
3082, recommended approving the Administration’s FY2010 request for $46.3 million in MilCon
funding for channel dredging at Mayport. (Page 107)
Senate
The Senate Appropriations Committee, in its report (S.Rept. 111-40 of July 7, 2009) on the
FY2010 military construction and veterans affairs appropriations bill (S. 1407), recommended
approving the Administration’s FY2010 request for $46.3 million in MilCon funding for channel
dredging at Mayport. (Page 88)
Conference
H.R. 3082 was incorporated as Division E of H.R. 3288/P.L. 111-117 of December 16, 2009, a
bill that became a consolidated appropriations act. The conference report (H.Rept. 111-366 of
December 8, 2009) on H.R. 3288/P.L. 111-117 approved the Administration’s FY2010 request for
$46.3 million in MilCon funding for channel dredging at Mayport. (Page 1410)
FY2009
FY2009 Defense Authorization Act (S. 3001/P.L. 110-417)
Section 2207 of the FY2009 defense authorization bill as passed by the House (H.R. 5658;
H.Rept. 110-652 of May 16, 2008) stated:
SEC. 2207. REPORT ON IMPACTS OF SURFACE SHIP HOMEPORTING
ALTERNATIVES.
(a) Report Required- The Secretary of the Navy shall not issue a record of decision for the
proposed action of homeporting additional surface ships at Naval Station Mayport, Florida,
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until at least 30 days after the date on which the Secretary submits to Congress a report
containing an analysis of the socio-economic impacts and an economic justification on each
location from which a vessel is proposed to be removed for homeporting at Naval Station
Mayport under the preferred alternative identified in the final environmental impact
statement for the proposed action.
(b) Additional Reporting Requirement- If the final environmental impact statement does not
contain a preferred alternative or if the Secretary intends to select an alternative other than
the preferred alternative in the record of decision, then the Secretary shall submit to Congress
a report (in the case where no preferred alternative is identified) or an additional report (in
the case where the preferred alternative is not selected) containing an analysis of the socio-
economic impacts and an economic justification on each location from which a vessel is
proposed to be removed for homeporting at Naval Station Mayport.
The FY2009 defense authorization bill as passed by the Senate (S. 3001; S.Rept. 110-335 of May
12, 2008) did not contain a provision similar to Section 2207 of H.R. 5658.
In lieu of a conference report, there was compromise version of S. 3001 that was accompanied by
a joint explanatory statement. The compromise version of S. 3001, which was signed into law as
P.L. 110-417 of October 14, 2008, did not contain a provision similar to Section 2207 of H.R.
5658.
FY2008 Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4986/P.L. 110-181)
The House Armed Services Committee, in its report (H.Rept. 110-146 of May 11, 2007) on the
FY2008 defense authorization bill (H.R. 1585), stated:
Carrier Basing
The committee understands that the Navy has unused capacity at Naval Station Mayport,
Florida, and is conducting an environmental impact statement on the feasibility of stationing
additional surface ships, including a nuclear aircraft carrier, at Naval Station Mayport. The
committee believes that Naval Station Mayport is an important defense asset that should be
fully utilized. The committee is concerned that Naval Station Mayport has not previously
served as homeport for a nuclear carrier and does not contain the considerable specialized
infrastructure necessary to sustain and maintain such a vessel. Therefore, before the
Secretary of the Navy recommends the stationing of a nuclear carrier at Naval Station
Mayport, the committee directs the Secretary to determine the full range of costs associated
with the construction of nuclear infrastructure and port improvements at Naval Station
Mayport necessary to support a nuclear carrier, including a detailed assessment of alternative
sites, and submit the results of this analysis to the congressional defense committees by
October 1, 2007. (Page 518)
FY2008 Military Construction, Veteran Affairs, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act (H.R. 2764/P.L. 110-161)

The House Appropriations Committee, in its report (H.Rept. 110-186 of June 11, 2007) on H.R.
2642, which at that point was the FY2008 military construction, veteran affairs, and related
agencies appropriations bill, stated:
Carrier Homeporting.—The Committee understands that it is the Navy’s publicly stated
policy to maintain two nuclear carrier-capable homeports on the east coast. The Committee
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further understands that the Navy is in the process of drafting an environmental impact
statement (EIS) that includes the evaluation of the necessary infrastructure and dredging
required to make Naval Station Mayport the second such homeport in addition to Naval
Station Norfolk, and that a draft EIS will be released in early 2008. The Committee directs
the Navy to provide a report to the Committee identifying the military construction
requirements and an estimated timetable for completion for making Mayport a nuclear
carrier-capable homeport no later than 30 days after release of the draft EIS. (Page 17)
H.R. 2642 later became the FY2008 supplemental appropriations act (P.L. 110-252 of June 30,
2008). The FY2008 military construction, veteran affairs, and related agencies appropriations bill
was eventually enacted as part of the FY2008 consolidated appropriations act (H.R. 2764/P.L.
110-161 of December 26, 2007).
FY2007 Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 5122/P.L. 109-364)
The Senate Armed Services Committee, in its report (S.Rept. 109-254 of May 9, 2006) on the
FY2007 defense authorization bill (S. 2766), stated:
The committee maintains its concern, expressed in the Senate report accompanying S. 1042
(S.Rept. 109-69) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, regarding
the declining size of the naval force and the reduction to the number of aircraft carriers. The
committee agrees, however, with the Navy’s determination that it is not feasible to maintain
12 operational aircraft carriers by restoring the USS John F. Kennedy (CV–67) to a
deployable, fully mission-capable platform. The committee believes that it is vital to the
national security of the United States that a fleet of at least 11 aircraft carriers be maintained
to support the National Military Strategy, and has taken extraordinary action to support the
CNO’s force structure plan by authorizing increased procurement for shipbuilding and,
specific to aircraft carriers, by authorizing additional advance procurement and incremental
funding for the construction of the first 3 CVN–21 class aircraft carriers.
Further, recognizing the increased need for timeliness of surge operations that today’s
smaller force structure places on the Fleet Response Plan, the committee reaffirms the
judgment that the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Clark, provided in testimony before
the Committee on Armed Services in February 2005, that the Atlantic Fleet should continue
to be dispersed in two homeports. (Page 380)
S.Rept. 109-254 also presented additional views of Senator Bill Nelson relating to the
homeporting of aircraft carriers on the Atlantic Coast. (See pages 528-529)
The conference report (H.Rept. 109-702 of September 29, 2006) on the FY2007 defense
authorization bill (H.R. 5122) stated:
The conferees agree with the CNO statement in his letter dated August 14, 2006, to the
Ranking Member of the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, that ‘‘Naval Station
Mayport and the many resources of the Jacksonville area remain vitally important to Navy
readiness,’’ and support the CNO commitment ‘‘to maintaining the infrastructure necessary
to support the strategic dispersal of the Atlantic Fleet at this key east coast port.’’ (Page 805)
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Appendix C. Excerpts from January 2009 Navy
Record of Decision (ROD)

This appendix presents excerpts from the January 2009 Navy Record of Decision (ROD)
document announcing the Navy’s desire to transfer a CVN to Mayport. The document stated in
part:
SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy (DON), after carefully weighing the strategic,
operational, and environmental consequences of the proposed action, announces its decision
to homeport one nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN) at Naval Station (NAVSTA)
Mayport. Today’s decision does not relocate a specific CVN to NAVSTA Mayport. It does
initiate a multiyear process for developing operational, maintenance, and support facilities at
NAVSTA Mayport to support homeporting of one CVN. This multiyear process includes
implementing projects for dredging and dredged material disposal, construction of CVN
nuclear propulsion plant maintenance facilities, wharf improvements, transportation
improvements, and construction of a parking structure to replace existing parking that would
be displaced by development of the CVN nuclear propulsion plant maintenance facilities.
The projects necessary to create the capacity to support CVN homeporting could be
completed as early as 2014.48 No CVN homeport change will occur before operational,
maintenance, and support facility projects are completed. Selection of the CVN to be
homeported at NAVSTA Mayport would not occur until approximately one year prior to the
ship’s transfer to NAVSTA Mayport. Selection of a specific CVN for homeporting at
NAVSTA Mayport will be based upon then current operational needs, strategic
considerations, and maintenance cycles.
The DON decision to utilize the capacity at NAVSTA Mayport to homeport a CVN is the
culmination of a two and a half year process involving environmental analysis under the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), identification of the recurring and nonrecurring
costs associated with homeporting surface ships at NAVSTA Mayport, and an assessment of
strategic concerns.
The DON environmental analysis included extensive studies regarding impacts associated
with dredging, facility construction, and homeport operations. The environmental analysis
undertaken by the DON included lengthy and detailed consultations with regulatory
agencies, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS), regarding impacts to endangered and threatened species, and the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
regarding dredging operations and the in-water disposal of dredged materials. Public
awareness and participation were integral components of the Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) process. The DON ensured that members of the public, state agencies, and
federal agencies had the opportunity to help define the scope of the DON’s analysis as well
as examine and consider the studies undertaken by the DON. Public review and comment on
the DON’s interpretation of those studies and the conclusions drawn from the DON’s
interpretation of associated data were robust.
The decision reached by the DON, as further explained later in this Record of Decision, is
based upon the DON’s environmental, operational, and strategic expertise and represents the

48 As mentioned earlier, this “as early as” date may have been pushed back by DOD’s announcement to delay a final
decision on whether to propose transferring a CVN to Mayport until it reviews the issue as part of its 2009-2010
Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).
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best military judgment of the DON’s leadership. The need to develop a hedge against the
potentially crippling results of a catastrophic event was ultimately the determining factor in
this decision-making process. The consolidation of CVN capabilities in the Hampton Roads
area on the East Coast presents a unique set of risks. CVNs assigned to the West Coast are
spread among three homeports. Maintenance and repair infrastructure exists at three
locations as well. As a result, there are strategic options available to Pacific Fleet CVNs
should a catastrophic event occur. By contrast, NAVSTA Norfolk is homeport to all five of
the CVNs assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and the Hampton Roads area is the only East Coast
location where CVN maintenance and repair infrastructure exists. It is the only location in
the U.S. capable of CVN construction and refueling. The Hampton Roads area also houses
all Atlantic Fleet CVN trained crews and associated community support infrastructure. There
are no strategic options available outside the Hampton Roads area for Atlantic Fleet CVNs
should a catastrophic event occur....
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED: The Draft and Final EIS assessed the impacts of 12
action alternatives and the no action alternative. Consistent with the purpose and need for the
proposed action, the alternatives addressed only options for utilizing capacities at NAVSTA
Mayport for homeporting additional surface ships. Examination of homeporting options at
other geographic locations was not relevant to the established purpose and need, so no such
alternatives were considered. The 12 action alternatives evaluated a broad range of options
for homeporting surface ships at NAVSTA Mayport. The alternatives included ship types
currently homeported at NAVSTA Mayport: destroyers (DDGs), and frigates (FFGs), as well
as additional types of ships identified by the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), including
amphibious assault ships (LHDs), amphibious transport dock ships (LPDs), dock landing
ships (LSDs), and a CVN.
In the Final EIS, the DON identified Alternative 4, as the Preferred Alternative. Alternative 4
involves homeporting one CVN at NAVSTA Mayport and included dredging, infrastructure
and wharf improvements, on-station road and parking improvements, and construction of
CVN nuclear propulsion plant maintenance facilities at NAVSTA Mayport. Factors that
influenced selection of Alternative 4 as the Preferred Alternative included impact analyses in
the EIS, estimated costs of implementation, including military construction and other
operation and sustainment costs, and strategic considerations.
Regulations implementing NEPA require the identification of the environmentally preferred
alternative. The environmentally preferred alternative for this EIS is Alternative 2,
homeporting two LHDs at NAVSTA Mayport. LHD homeporting would require no dredging
or other major construction activities compared to dredging and construction activities
required to implement the Preferred Alternative to homeport a single CVN. As such, the
Preferred Alternative (Alternative 4) would have greater environmental impact than the
environmentally preferred alternative (Alternative 2) on earth resources, water resources, air
quality, noise, biological resources, and utilities. While the environmentally preferred
alternative would have less environmental impact than the Preferred Alternative, it does not
address strategic concerns or reduce risks to critical Atlantic Fleet assets and infrastructure.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: The EIS analyzed environmental impacts and the
potential magnitude of those impacts relative to the following categories of environmental
resources: earth resources, land and offshore use, water resources, air quality, noise,
biological resources, cultural resources, traffic, socioeconomics, general services, utilities,
and environmental health and safety. Analysis of these categories also included the
radiological aspects of CVN homeporting. Only environmental impacts to NAVSTA
Mayport and the project area were evaluated. There were no environmental impacts to the
human environment outside of NAVSTA Mayport and the project area that were interrelated
to the natural or physical environmental effects of the proposed action.
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The environmental impact of implementing each alternative was evaluated against the 2006
baseline. The baseline year 2006 best represents recent and historical operations at NAVSTA
Mayport, and 2014 represents the end-state year by which all alternatives evaluated in the
EIS could be implemented. Many impacts were found to be common among the
alternatives....
DECISION: After considering the environmental impacts analyzed in the EIS, the recurring
and nonrecurring costs associated with homeporting additional surface ships at NAVSTA
Mayport, and strategic implications of a second CVN homeport on the East Coast to support
the Atlantic Fleet, the DON elected to implement Alternative 4, the Preferred Alternative.
That alternative provides for homeporting one CVN at Naval Station (NAVSTA) Mayport.
The DON decision does not immediately relocate a specific CVN to NAVSTA Mayport. It
does initiate a multiyear process for developing operational, maintenance, and support
facilities at NAVSTA Mayport to support homeporting of one CVN. This multiyear process
includes implementing projects for dredging and dredged material disposal, construction of
CVN nuclear propulsion plant maintenance facilities, wharf improvements, transportation
improvements, and construction of a parking structure to replace existing parking that would
be displaced by development of the CVN nuclear propulsion plant maintenance facilities.
The projects necessary to create the capacity to support CVN homeporting could be
completed as early as 2014.
No CVN homeport change will occur before operational, maintenance, and support facility
projects are completed. Selection of the CVN to be homeported at NAVSTA Mayport would
not occur until approximately one year prior to the ship’s transfer to NAVSTA Mayport.
Selection of a specific CVN for homeporting at NAVSTA Mayport will be based upon then
current operational needs, strategic considerations, and maintenance cycles.
The most critical considerations in the DON’s decision-making process were the
environmental impacts associated with the action, recurring and nonrecurring costs
associated with changes in surface ship homeporting options, and strategic dispersal
considerations. The need to develop a hedge against the potentially crippling results of a
catastrophic event was ultimately the determining factor in this decision-making process.
The consolidation of CVN capabilities in the Hampton Roads area on the East Coast presents
a unique set of risks. CVNs assigned to the West Coast are spread among three homeports.
Maintenance and repair infrastructure exists at three locations as well. As a result, there are
strategic options available to Pacific Fleet CVNs if a catastrophic event occurred. By
contrast, NAVSTA Norfolk is homeport to all five of the CVNs assigned to the Atlantic
Fleet and the Hampton Roads area is the only East Coast location where CVN maintenance
and repair infrastructure exists. It is the only location in the U.S. capable of CVN
construction and refueling. The Hampton Roads area also houses all Atlantic Fleet CVN
trained crews and associated community support infrastructure. There are no strategic
options available outside the Hampton Roads area for Atlantic Fleet CVNs if a catastrophic
event occurred.
Environmental impacts: Environmental impacts were identified through studies and data
collection efforts. The information culled from the studies and collected data was assessed
and conclusions were drawn regarding the significance of environmental impacts. These
conclusions, along with the underlying studies and data, were the subject of discussions and
consultations with federal/state regulators over the course of the EIS process. This
interagency process led to identification of mitigation measures, where appropriate, to
address environmental impacts. Based on these consultations with regulators and their
subject matter experts, the DON has committed to implementation of specific mitigation
measures as outlined earlier in this Record of Decision. There are no environmental impacts
associated with homeporting a CVN at NAVSTA Mayport that cannot be appropriately
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addressed or mitigated, including impacts to endangered species such as the NARW, Florida
Manatee, and sea turtles.
Recurring and nonrecurring costs: The DON’s analysis and assessment of socioeconomic
impacts in the EIS associated with the range of alternatives addressed short-term and long-
term local economic impacts in the Mayport area. In addition to the socioeconomic impacts
considered in the EIS, recurring and onetime costs associated with changes to surface ship
homeporting were projected and considered in the DON’s decisionmaking process.
Recurring and nonrecurring costs for the preferred alternative are less than 10% of the cost of
a single CVN and less than 1% of the cost of the DON’s CVN assets. That investment in
homeport capacity at NAVSTA Mayport provides additional security for CVN assets and
enhances the DON’s ability to maintain its effectiveness at a time when the ability to address
contingencies and respond to the unexpected is essential. In terms of risk mitigation, DON
gains a dispersal capability and its benefits at a fraction of the cost of an aircraft carrier.
Recurring costs included costs associated with Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization
(SRM), Base Operations Support (BOS) , training, air wing transportation, nuclear
maintenance labor, and Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) for Sailors and their families.
Sustainment costs are for activities necessary to keep facilities in good condition and
therefore enable them to achieve their intended useful life. Restoration and Modernization
costs are life-cycle investments required to provide for recapitalized facilities that support
new missions, return facilities to good condition, and improve facilities beyond original
conditions or capabilities. BOS costs included Facilities Operations costs such as Utilities,
Facility Services, Facility Management, and Fire and Emergency Services.
Onetime costs included costs associated with MILCON projects (construction and Planning
and Design), onetime maintenance costs for management and Industrial Plant Equipment
(IPE) costs, and Permanent Change of Station (PCS) associated with the initial CVN
homeport assignment at NAVSTA Mayport. PCS costs are those costs associated with
moving the ship’s crew and dependents to NAVSTA Mayport. PCS costs were estimated
costs because the location from which crews and their families would be moved remains
undetermined.
Strategic dispersal: The strategic dispersal of surface ships, especially vital strategic assets
such as CVNs that serve our national interests in both peace and war, was assessed through
examination of potential vulnerabilities. These potential vulnerabilities were examined in the
context of operational, training and maintenance requirements of East Coast assets.
Strategic dispersal factors considered included: transit times to various deployment and
training areas; shipping traffic volumes and associated risk of a maritime accident; port force
protection postures and risk mitigation measures; integrated vulnerability and threat
assessments; historic aircraft carrier loading; physical pier capacity; nuclear maintenance
capability; homeporting options in response to a catastrophic event; geographic location of
the aircraft carrier aircraft squadrons; transit times from port to the open sea; historic sortie
rates due to hurricanes or other natural phenomena; and the risk to the ships, infrastructure
and personnel who man, service and repair aircraft carriers associated with natural or man-
made catastrophic events. In terms of these factors, the analysis concluded that the strategic
value of NAVSTA Norfolk and NAVSTA Mayport as CVN homeports essentially was
equal. The DON’s strategic analysis, however, also demonstrated the value of having both
NAVSTA Norfolk and NAVSTA Mayport as CVN homeports. Establishing CVN homeport
capacity at NAVSTA Mayport can be accomplished without any adverse impacts on
operations while at the same time providing the added strategic value of a second CVN
homeport on the East Coast.
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The most significant strategic advantage offered by development of an additional East Coast
CVN homeport is a hedge against a catastrophic event that may impact NAVSTA Norfolk,
the only existing CVN homeport for Atlantic Fleet CVNs. It is difficult to quantify the
likelihood of a catastrophic event, whether natural or man-made. Nonetheless, there is a need
to plan and prepare for any such event. That planning and preparation must address CVN
maintenance and repair infrastructure as well as operational considerations. The fact that
quantifying the likelihood of a catastrophic event is so difficult underscores the need to
ensure that our planning and preparation efforts do not underestimate or overlook the long-
term effects of such event. Hurricane Katrina is a clear and recent example. The level of
devastation in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was so extensive and so
pervasive that more than three years after Katrina hit, the New Orleans industrial
infrastructure, work force, and community support functions have not fully recovered.
The potential impact of similar man-made or natural catastrophic events in the Hampton
Roads area requires the DON to plan and prepare. A failure to do so presents an unacceptable
risk. The aircraft carriers of the United States DON are vital strategic assets that serve our
national interests in both peace and war. The President calls upon them for their unique
ability to provide both deterrence and combat support in times of crisis. Of the 11 aircraft
carriers currently in service, five are assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. NAVSTA Norfolk is
homeport to all five of the CVNs assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and the Hampton Roads area
is the only East Coast location where CVN maintenance and repair infrastructure exists. It is
the only location in the U.S. capable of CVN construction and refueling. The Hampton
Roads area also houses all Atlantic Fleet CVN trained crews and associated community
support infrastructure. A second CVN homeport on the East Coast will provide additional
CVN maintenance infrastructure, thereby providing added strategic value and allowing the
DON to extract the added operational value of two CVN homeports in meeting its national
defense obligations.
Homeporting a CVN at NAVSTA Mayport would provide strategic options in case of a
catastrophic event in the Hampton Roads area, and enhance distribution of CVN assets,
thereby reducing the risks to aircraft carriers and associated maintenance and repair
infrastructure supporting those crucial assets....
CONCLUSION: The decision to create the capacity to homeport a CVN at NAVSTA
Mayport represents the best military judgment of the DON’s leadership regarding strategic
considerations. In reaching that decision, the DON considered the environmental impacts
analyzed in the EIS, comments from regulatory agencies as well as those received from
members of the public, mitigation measures that would lessen the extent and severity of
environmental impacts, recurring and nonrecurring costs, and the strategic implications of
developing a second CVN homeport on the East Coast to support Atlantic Fleet operational,
training and maintenance needs.
There will be no significant adverse environmental impacts associated with the CVN
homeporting. That conclusion is based on the data collected and analyzed in the EIS, on
interagency consultations, and on the mitigation measures developed as part of that
consultation process.
The cost of developing a CVN homeport at NAVSTA Mayport was balanced against the
strategic need to create a hedge against a catastrophic event in the Hampton Roads area. The
cost of developing a CVN homeport at NAVSTA Mayport is more than offset by the added
security for CVN assets and enhanced operational effectiveness provided by the ability to
operate out of two homeports.
Ultimately, the need to develop a hedge against the potentially crippling results of a
catastrophic event was the driver behind the decision to homeport a CVN at NAVSTA
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Mayport. Developing a second CVN homeport on the East Coast not only reduces potential
risk to CVN assets through dispersal of those critical assets, it provides some maintenance
and repair infrastructure and ensures access to that infrastructure by CVNs deployed at the
time a catastrophic event in Hampton Roads occurred. Mayport allows DON to obtain the
advantages of fleet dispersal and survivability without impacting operational availability. On
the West Coast DON has accepted reduced operational availability in the interest of
dispersal. By homeporting CVNs in the Northwestern U.S., DON loses operational
availability during the additional transit time required to reach operational and training areas.
By establishing a second CVN homeport on the East Coast, DON can gain the dispersal
advantage without the increased transit time. The proximity to training areas and transit time
to operating areas is about equal from Norfolk and Mayport.
West Coast CVN homeports and maintenance facilities are not viable options in planning for
Atlantic Fleet CVN assets in the event a catastrophic event occurs in the Hampton Roads
area. The nuclear powered aircraft carriers are too large to transit the Panama Canal,
requiring a 12,700 nautical mile voyage around South America to reach the closest CVN
homeport on the West Coast at [49]San Diego.
Neither the DON, nor the nation, nor its citizens can wait for a catastrophic event to occur
before recognizing the potential impacts of such an event and appropriately planning and
preparing for continuity of operations. This lesson was learned all too well in the aftermath
of recent catastrophic events such as Hurricane Katrina. The DON looked at the possible
crippling effects - immediate and long-term - of a catastrophic event in the Hampton Roads
area and recognized its responsibility to develop a hedge against such an event. That hedge is
homeporting a CVN at NAVSTA Mayport and developing the requisite operational, training,
maintenance and support facilities.
Homeporting one CVN at NAVSTA Mayport best serves the interests of the DON and the
nation, and can be accomplished in a manner that keeps environmental impacts at a less than
significant level.50


49 At this point in the text, a handwritten note deletes the word “NAVSTA.”
50 Department of the Navy, Record of Decision for Homeporting of Additional Surface Ships at Naval Station Mayport,
Florida
, January 14, 2009, pp. 1-2, 5-6, 18-22, 31-32.

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Appendix D. Navy Data on Hurricane Risk
This appendix presents information that the Navy has provided regarding the risk of hurricanes at
Norfolk and Mayport.
Navy Briefing Slide
Figure D-1 is a Navy briefing slide on relative hurricane risk for the port of Norfolk and the port
of Jacksonville, which is near Mayport.
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Figure D-1. Navy Briefing Slide on Relative Hurricane Risk

Source: Slide entitled “Relative Hurricane Risk,” from Navy briefing entitled “Final Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS) for the Proposed Homeporting of Additional Surface Ships at Naval Station Mayport, FL,”
November 18, 2008, presented to CRS on December 5, 2008.
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Excerpt from DOD Information Paper
In response to questions and requests for information from congressional offices, the Navy in
December 2008 provided, among other things, supplementary historical data regarding hurricanes
in the Hampton Roads area and Mayport and their effect on Navy facilities and ship operations.
The questions/requests for information regarding hurricanes, and the Navy’s responses, are
reproduced below.51
QUESTION/REQUEST: How much collateral damage did Norfolk and Mayport sustain
from hurricanes that did NOT make a direct hit over the analyzed time period of 1851-2006?
RESPONSE:
a. MAYPORT:
Since 1995, 8 named storms—of which 1 was a hurricane—have had a CPA of 75 nm or
closer to NAVSTA Mayport
From 1851-2008, there were 51 tropical cyclones that were classified as hurricanes at some
point in their life that passed within 180 nm of Mayport. Of these, 22 came within 50 nm.
Collateral damage (back to 2004): $6.1M
b. NORFOLK:
Since 1995, 15 named storms—of which 4 were hurricanes—came within 75 nm or closer to
NAVSTA Norfolk
From 1851-2008, there were 54 tropical cyclones that were classified as hurricanes at some
point in their life that passed within 180 nm of Norfolk. Of these, 14 came within 50 nm.
Collateral damage (all hurricanes, direct hit and near miss back to 1999): $11.8M
c. Some ships undergoing maintenance must occasionally remain in port during hurricanes.
A review of records since the 2004 hurricane season indicated no resulting ship damage for
those ships remaining inport.
QUESTION/REQUEST: How much hurricane damage has NAVSTA Norfolk and
NAVSTA Mayport sustained over the time period analyzed?
RESPONSE: Historical hurricane damage costs available include:
Mayport:

51 Source: Department of Defense information paper responding to questions from congressional offices, dated
December 19, 2008, and provided to CRS on January 6, 2009, questions/requests 5 through 10. The reproduction here
omits the question/request numbers and incorporates some slight formatting changes to accommodate CRS report
formatting. NAVSTA means Naval Station (a home port), CPA means closest point of approach, nm means nautical
mile, M means millions (of dollars). The Navy informed CRS that this data accounts for all hurricanes that have
affected Mayport or Norfolk, including hurricanes that approached Mayport from the west. (Department of Defense
information paper responding to questions from CRS, dated December 23, 2008 and provided to CRS on January 6,
2009.)
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FY04: $1.2M
FY05: $4.1M
FY08: $0.8M
Norfolk
FY99: $1.0M
FY03: $10.8M
QUESTION/REQUEST: How many evacuation orders (sorties) have been issued to Navy
ships at Norfolk and Mayport because of inclement weather? Provide historical data to the
maximum extent possible.
RESPONSE: Since 1995, ships at Mayport have sortied 6 times and ships at Norfolk have
sortied 5 times:
a. Mayport:
i. Bertha (1996)
ii. Bonnie (1998)
iii. Floyd (1999)
iv. Charley (2004)
v. Ophelia (2005)
vi. Fay (2008)
b. Norfolk:
i. Felix (1995)
ii. Bertha (1996)
iii. Bonnie (1998)
iv. Floyd (1999)
v. Isabel (2003)




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Carrier Sorties due to Hurricanes
Dates
Units Affected
Type of Impact
Homeport
8-10 Sep 05
USS JOHN F KENNEDY
Dedicated sail, hurricane avoidance
Mayport
16-20 Sep 03
USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Extended underway, hurricane
Norfolk
avoidance
11-20 Sep 03
USS GEORGE WASHINGTON
Interrupted carrier qualifications,
Norfolk
hurricane avoidance
16-20 Sep 03
USS RONALD REAGAN
Dedicated sail, hurricane avoidance
Norfolk
22-27 Sep 02
USS HARRY S TRUMAN
Already underway for COMPTUEX,
Norfolk
hurricane avoidance
14-17 Sep 99
USS JOHN F KENNEDY
Dedicated underway 5 days prior to
Mayport
deployment
15-18 Sep 99
USS DWIGHT D EISENHOWER
Dedicated sail, hurricane avoidance
Norfolk
15-18 Sep 99
USS GEORGE WASHINGTON
Dedicated sail, hurricane avoidance
Norfolk
15-18 Sep 99
USS HARRY S TRUMAN
Dedicated sail, hurricane avoidance
Norfolk
25-28 Aug 98
USS ENTERPRISE
Dedicated sail, hurricane avoidance
Norfolk
22-26 Aug 98
USS JOHN F KENNEDY
Delayed return to homeport, hurricane Mayport
avoidance
25-27 Aug 98
USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Dedicated sail, hurricane avoidance
Norfolk
15-19 Aug 95
USS AMERICA
Dedicated sail, hurricane avoidance
Norfolk
during POM
15-20 Aug 95
USS GEORGE WASHINGTON
Dedicated sail, hurricane avoidance
Norfolk
30 Aug-02 Sep
USS JOHN F KENNEDY
Dedicated sail, hurricane avoidance
Norfolk
93
24 Aug 92
USS FORRESTAL
Dedicated sail, hurricane avoidance
Pensacola
Notes:
Data prior to 1992 is incomplete for tracking of hurricane sorties.
QUESTION/REQUEST: Have any Navy ships remained pierside during past hurricane
evacuation orders? If so, what happened?
RESPONSE: No records exist that indicate any aircraft carriers were unable to sortie. Note:
Shipyards are designated “safe havens,” therefore CVNs in the shipyards are not required to
sortie. Recent examples of non-aircraft carriers remaining inport during hurricanes include:
a. In August 2005, the following ships were pierside at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding—
Ingalls Operations and NGSB Avondale Operations during Hurricane Katrina:
i. DDG 98 (FORREST SHERMAN)
ii. DDG 100 (KIDD)
iii. LPD 17 (SAN ANTONIO)
iv. LPD 19 (MESA VERDE)
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v. LPD 18 (NEW ORLEANS)
LPD 17 and DDG 98 sustained minor damage during the storm and DDG 100 sustained
more extensive hull damage. The cost of repairs is classified as “Business Sensitive.”
b. During hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008, the following ships were pierside at NGSB
Avondale and NGSB Ingalls and did not sustain any damage:
i. LPD 20 (GREEN BAY)
ii. DDG 103 (TRUXTUN)
iii. DDG 105 (DEWEY)
QUESTION/REQUEST: Historically, how have hurricanes negatively affected CVN
operations on the East Coast?
RESPONSE: Hurricanes can and have affected aircraft carrier operations during all phases of
the carrier schedule. CVNs inport will sortie when directed by the Fleet Commander and
conduct hurricane avoidance. CVNs underway for training will suspend or cancel training
evolutions and maneuver to avoid the hurricane’s predicted track.
QUESTION/REQUEST: Compare the amount of time required to sortie ships from Norfolk
and Mayport.
RESPONSE: Following issuance of the sortie order, ships in Mayport require approximately
1 hour to reach the open sea and ships in Norfolk require between 4 to 4.5 hours to reach
open sea.
QUESTION/REQUEST: When, if ever, has the Navy NOT been able to sortie ships?
RESPONSE: Ships in maintenance at Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Northrop Grumman
Newport News Shipbuilding do not sortie since the shipyards are considered safe havens for
ships during hurricanes. No records exist that indicate any aircraft carriers not in safe havens
were unable to sortie.
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Appendix E. Examples of Views from Members
This appendix presents examples of views from Members regarding DOD’s proposal to homeport
a CVN at Mayport. These views are presented as examples only.
Views of Members from Florida
An October 23, 2009, press release from the office of Representative Ander Crenshaw states:
WASHINGTON, DC—United States Senators George LeMieux (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (D-
FL) and Representatives Ander Crenshaw (R-Jacksonville) and Corrine Brown (D-
Jacksonville) signed and mailed the following letter to President Obama in advance of his
trip to North Florida on October 26. The letter (10/22) underscores the importance of having
two East Coast aircraft carrier homeports and calls on President Obama to reaffirm his
commitment to strategic dispersal of critical assets such as aircraft carriers. The full text of
the document reads:
Dear President Obama:
We are happy to hear you are traveling to the great state of Florida soon. While in the state,
we hope you are able to see the many military strategic strengths Florida provides this
Nation. We are home to the largest Air Force Base, Eglin, and Naval Station Mayport, the
third largest naval port in the continental United States.
Early this year, the Department of the Navy concluded an exhaustive two and a half year
study weighing the strategic, operational and environmental consequences of upgrading
Naval Station Mayport to homeport a nuclear carrier, and the upgrades must be done since
consolidating ALL nuclear carrier homeporting and maintenance in one East Coast location
greatly hampers the Navy’s strategic options.
Prior to 2007, the Navy had operational flexibility on the East Coast with carriers stationed
both at Naval Station Norfolk and Naval Station Mayport. However, the Navy lost the
flexibility with the decommissioning of the last East Coast conventional carrier in 2007. In
order to reduce risk to the Atlantic Fleet carrier force and restore the proper balance to the
Navy, Naval Station carriers and maintenance facilities are spread among three homeports.
In fact, in a December 2008 letter to Senator Jim Webb, Secretary Gates reinforced the
concept of strategic dispersal stating, “Having a single CVN homeport has not been
considered acceptable on the west coast should not be considered acceptable on the east
coast.”
The Norfolk area is the only east coast port in which nuclear aircraft carriers are repaired,
built and housed. If tragedy, man-made or nature-related, intentional or accidental, rendered
Norfolk out of reach the Navy would be forced to journey around the tip of South America to
reach another nuclear aircraft carrier maintenance facility in San Diego, CA. While some
would like to believe this is an acceptable back-up plan, common sense demands otherwise.
Time and time again, aircraft carriers have proven to be key to the execution of our national
security strategy. We believe as access to overseas land bases continues to decrease, the
Navy’s aircraft carriers will be more and more important. The Navy has alternate
homeporting and maintenance options for all ships on the East Coast except aircraft carriers,
its most valuable assets. The total cost for permanently homeporting a nuclear aircraft carrier
at Mayport is less that 1% of the cost of the nuclear carrier fleet. While the cost is not
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inconsequential, when weighed against the possible risks to our carrier fleet, upgrading
Mayport to homeport a nuclear carrier is a sound national security expense. The Department
MUST make this investment in Naval Station Mayport to provide flexibility to the
Combatant Commanders and protection to some of the nation’s most valuable assets.
While you are in Jacksonville, we encourage you to reaffirm the county’s commitment to the
protection and the flexibility that strategic dispersal affords. We look forward to continuing
to provide the best homeport in the Navy.52
Views of Members from Virginia
The website of the office Representative Glenn Nye presents a March 9, 2010, letter to Secretary
of the Navy Ray Mabus and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead on the proposal
to homeport a CVN at Mayport. The letter is signed by Senators Jim Webb and Mark R. Warner,
Representatives Glenn C Nye III, J. Randy Forbes, Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, and Robert J.
Wittman, and 27 other persons who are not Members of Congress. The text of the letter states:
Dear Secretary Mabus and Admiral Roughead:
We are the Hampton Roads Military Affairs Commission, a newly formed group from
Virginia’s Hampton Roads area, one of the largest military areas in the world. Our more than
30 members are experts and leaders in their respective fields, including elected officials,
retired military officers and business leaders. In today’s fiscal environment, we recognize
that you encounter difficult tradeoffs as you seek to balance competing priorities and ensure
necessary funding for aircraft procurement, building and maintaining our naval fleet, military
construction, and taking care of our sailors. Like you, we fully support the Navy’s goal to
build a fleet of no fewer than 313 ships.
We care deeply about national security and the future of our Navy. For this reason, we write
today regarding the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and its recommendation to
construct facilities to support homeporting a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN) at Naval
Station (NAVSTA) Mayport. We respectfully request that you provide us with a business-
case analysis that objectively addresses the financial and operational tradeoffs of this
proposal, as well as the threat assessment that warrants such an undertaking. We believe a
more comprehensive public accounting is necessary before any change in East Coast
homeporting is considered. We hope you will provide answers to our questions in the
following areas:
Creating a CVN homeport at NAVSTA Mayport is estimated to cost between $600 million
and $1 billion when all one-time and recurring annual costs are calculated. In the current
economic climate and with today’s high operating tempo, the Navy has numerous unfunded
priorities. If the cost of homeporting is $600 million to $1 billion, what specific elements of
current year and out-year projects will be decremented from the budget to provide the
money?”
There is a pressing need for a more comprehensive strategic-risk assessment. The DoD has
extensive capabilities to quantify risk and empirically evaluate the trade-offs and cost-benefit
factors associated with any major investment. With respect to the proposed carrier homeport
at NAVSTA Mayport, we have yet to learn of a strategic assessment or rigorous risk-based

52 The press release is available online at http://crenshaw.house.gov/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=
829f1386-19b9-b4b1-1250-b4a52694f924.
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analysis that would identify the specific reasons for executing what is potentially a $1 billion
decision. To date, in seeking to justify this project, the Navy has said that the risk that a
catastrophic event could close Hampton Roads is “low.”
The phrase “strategic dispersal” has been used by many as an intuitive argument to justify
the creation of an additional East Coast homeport for a CVN. However, we are concerned
this argument also creates a slippery slope akin to a “reverse BRAC”. Under Secretary for
Policy Michelle Flournoy, testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, recently
said that the logic of strategic dispersal also applies to other singularly based assets and
infrastructure, to include fleet ballistic missile submarines. The immense cost and time of
carrying out this additional dispersal would be extraordinary. What specific guidance has the
Navy received, if any, to provide for strategic dispersal of any high value assets and
infrastructure (carriers, subs, facilities)? Would this dispersal philosophy apply to other
critical infrastructure such as the Pentagon or the U.S. Capitol?
Even with one less CVN, NAVSTA Norfolk would remain the world’s largest Naval Station
and should be protected as such. Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been spent
since 9/11 to improve port and base security in the Hampton Roads region. What security
improvements are required in Mayport to accommodate a CVN and at what cost? Secondly,
the Navy has cited the concern over possible blockage (either by natural or manmade causes)
of the Norfolk channel. If harbor blockage of current CVN ports is considered a risk, are
there any plans to mitigate the risk?
Significant increases in personnel, both military and federal employees, will be required to
accommodate a new CVN homeport. Have the corresponding billets been identified for
funding? What is the manning increase required for 2013 and 2014 when the CVN is
scheduled to be home ported at Mayport? What is the overall manning plan for the CVN
move? Specifically, is there a plan detailing the station manning and the requirement for
temporary additional duty (TAD) sailors? What is this recurring cost? What is the impact of
such temporary assignments on the ability to support remaining CVN activities at Norfolk
and what will the quality of life impact be on sailors and shipyard workers who will be away
from home for additional periods of time if a CVN is homeported at NAVSTA Mayport?
When the USS Kennedy (CV 67) left NAVSTA Mayport in 2007, much of the existing
carrier-support infrastructure was decommissioned. If creating a new CVN homeport is of
strategic importance, as some have indicated, why would the Navy decommission existing
support infrastructure at Mayport only to rebuild much of it a few years later? What specific
capabilities must be re-established and at what cost?
Precisely what CVN maintenance will be supported at NAVSTA Mayport after all facilities
have been constructed? How often and for how long will the Navy need to return the CVN to
Norfolk for maintenance availabilities that are beyond the capability of fly-away teams?
The Navy’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) proposes building nuclear
propulsion repair facilities, but there is no mention of conventional requirements such as
catapult and arresting gear maintenance. What conventional maintenance will be done by the
maintenance personnel at NAVSTA Mayport?
While the FEIS addressed possible local economic impacts at Mayport, why did the FEIS
neglect a corresponding socio-economic evaluation of Norfolk? With the decommissioning
of USS Enterprise (CVN 65) and a follow-on change in homeport for another Norfolk-based
carrier to Mayport, why didn’t the FEIS evaluate the negative impact on Norfolk’s local
housing market, schools, jobs, and small businesses?
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Thank you for taking the time to look into these queries. We commend you for your
leadership. As this process evolves, we look forward to developing a better dialogue to
ensure the concerns and issues we have identified are addressed in a timely, responsive way.
The Commission’s point of contact is John Panneton, Military Liaison for Congressman
Glenn Nye, who can be reached at 757-326-6201, or 4772 Euclid Road, Suite E, Virginia
Beach, VA 23462.53

Author Contact Information

Ronald O'Rourke

Specialist in Naval Affairs
rorourke@crs.loc.gov, 7-7610



53 The letter is available online at http://nye.house.gov/uploads/030910_HRMAC_Letter.pdf.
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