Alabama politicians have tried to relocate the Navy airfield's pilot training since 1973.
By Associated Press
Published September 2, 2003
WHITING FIELD - Nestled in the piney woods of the Florida Panhandle, the Navy's busiest airfield holds an anniversary celebration Saturday to mark its 60-year anniversary.
Whiting accounts for 60 percent of Navy and Marine Corps flight training in fixed-wing aircraft and all of their primary helicopter training. The base sometimes is called "Exciting Whiting" because it buzzes with activity, but the title also befits the political hardball played by boosters and detractors.
Almost since the day Navy helicopter training began here in 1973, Alabama politicians have been trying to get it moved to Fort Rucker, Ala., where Army and Air Force chopper pilots train.
More than 20 relocation studies have been done and the Navy's answer always has been "no," said Santa Rosa County Commissioner Don Salter, who chairs the commission's Military and Economic Development Committee.
The Alabama argument is that consolidating at Fort Rucker would save money and end duplication. Florida says the Alabama post lacks over-water training sites and moving there would cost millions for the Navy.
"They'd have to reproduce Whiting at Fort Rucker," Salter said.
He expects the Air Force to be Whiting's biggest competitor in 2005. Air Force and Navy pilots already train at each others' bases, including Whiting.
"Our biggest fear is that the Navy and Air Force have done such a good job of joint primary training, it could come back, possibly, and bite us," Salter said.
He is worried the next step may be to train all pilots from both services at Air Force bases. Losing Whiting would cost Santa Rosa $270-million annually, or 28 percent of the county's economy, Salter said. He counts Gov. Jeb Bush, brother of President Bush, as a strong ally.
"When you start talking about taking away a piece of a community's economy, you get into some real fights," Salter said. "We certainly hope that President Bush is his brother's keeper."
