Some Point Loma residents are concerned that the military hasn’t been forthcoming enough about its recent proposal to increase the number of ongoing training events, including helicopter and explosives exercises, at Naval Base Point Loma.

But a Navy spokesperson answered, at a Sept. 14 meeting of the Point Loma Association, that the additional testing and training activities that the Navy is now proposing are similar to what has historically taken place on NBPL.

“The PLA is concerned with the additional potential training on the sub base and how it affects the Peninsula residents,” said PLA’s current chair Sandy Hanshaw. “Our biggest concern was the fact that the Navy didn’t give an appropriate window of time for review and no public review of the plan, aside from our board meeting, which was after the review period closed.”

Hanshaw said Navy spokesperson Muska Laiq, at the PLA board meeting, gave a presentation on the ways that the training and activity increase on the base will be conducted.  “Much of the training is already happening on the base, but there are plans to increase it,” said Hanshaw adding, “As presented by Muska, there shouldn’t be a large impact on the residents, but that will be an ‘only-time-will-tell’ situation.”

Hanshaw also noted Point Loma residents had many questions on the topic and presented them during the board meeting, “gaining some feedback from Muska and the Navy personnel who were there.”

“Point Loma is the best place for these activities because it allows different commands to train and work together in realistic scenarios,” Navy community planning and liaison officer Laiq told the PLA. “Training at other locations also requires travel, which takes away from training time, increases cost, and takes personnel away from their families. Unmanned vehicle flights would stay within the Naval Base airspace. If you haven’t noticed them before – you won’t notice any change.

“Special warfare exercises would involve a handful of boats coming in from the ocean and a few cars with support personnel. The majority of exercises would take place at night when traffic congestion is not an issue.”

Added Laiq: “Noise from explosives training may be noticeable for people standing outside in neighboring communities, but would be brief. Proposed helicopter flights are very limited (maximum three per year), and all flights would come in directly from the ocean rather than along the peninsula.  Ospreys would not be used for these exercises.”

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing and short takeoff and landing capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft.

The Navy released a 134-page draft environmental assessment on Aug. 3 on their proposed increased testing and training on NBPL, at the beginning of a 15-day public comment period that closed Aug. 17. PLA chairwoman Hanshaw then requested an extension of that comment period. The Navy complied, extending the comment period another 30 days, which closed on Sept. 1.

The PLA is a nonprofit community organization consisting of a 20-member board, 10 committees, and over 1,000 residents and businesses members, sponsors, and donors, along with hundreds of dedicated volunteers.

The group does plantings and maintains 20 public green spaces in Point Loma including landscaping medians. It also installs community signs, lights, landmarks, benches, and banners.

The PLA creates public art on utility boxes and with murals and sculptures, as well as picking up litter, and removing graffiti and unwanted billboards and power lines while advocating for an overall improvement in quality of life.

NAVAL BASE POINT LOMA

Naval Base Point Loma was established on Oct. 1, 1998, when Navy facilities in Point Loma were consolidated under the command of Navy Region Southwest. NBPL consists of seven facilities: Submarine Base, Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command, Fleet Combat Training Center Pacific, Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR), Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, the Fleet Intelligence Command Pacific and Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar. These close-knit commands form a diverse and highly technical hub of naval activity. The on-base population is around 22,000 Navy and civilian personnel.

The history of PLNB began in 1795. The Spanish began building a fort at the base of Point Guijarros, opposite the tip of North Island (Coronado). This fort was built on the land now known as Ballast Point. Fort Guijarros was later finished in 1798 and then abandoned by the Mexicans in 1845. In 1846, United States Capt. Samuel Du Pont entered the abandoned land where the fort once stood and raised the American flag. Shortly after, in 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War and the Americans claimed Point Loma.

In February 1852, President Millard Fillmore set aside the southern portion of Point Loma of about 1,400 acres for military purposes. Subsequently, it was assigned to the U.S. Army and named Fort Rosecrans, after Major Gen. William Rosecrans, an 1842 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy. In 1898, the Army built a coast artillery installation on the site which remained active until 1945.

Submarine Group, San Diego was established in 1946, and Submarine Flotilla 1 was activated in 1949. In 1959 Fort Rosecrans was turned over to the U.S Navy. Starting in April 1995, several commands were decommissioned, or their homeports were changed, to meet the post-Cold War downsizing requirements of the Navy. Commands throughout San Diego were regionalized in an effort to provide equal or better base services while managing a reduced budget. The six naval installations on Point Loma were then consolidated as Naval Base Point Loma.