Dahlgren's Potomac River range would fall silent if gossip about the base's future proves true. Officials refute speculation the Defense Department could tag the King George base for closure in 2005. Visit the Photo Place

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Base closure rumors dog Dahlgren

Rumor mill spits out King George base's name in list of military installations that could be closed in 2005.

By ROB DAVIS and RUTH FINCH

Date published: 11/1/2003

When King George County Supervisor Robert Fuscaldo checked his e-mail Thursday, it seemed like his worst fears had been confirmed.

The subject read: Base Closings: Just Off-The-Press. The e-mail went on to include the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, on a list of military bases likely to be closed in 2005.

Though the list fed into Fuscaldo's concern that NSWC would be axed, he and other officials have since said it appears to be nothing more than urban legend.

The list started out being published by Carlton Meyer, whose g2mil.com Web site says he is a former Marine Corps officer.

It came to Fuscaldo, NSWC's former commander, through friends with connections in the defense community.

The incident is typical of the speculation and rumor-mill churning that is accompanying the nation's latest round of Base Realignment and Closures.

The Defense Department won't publish its list of proposed base closings until spring 2005. Congress will then decide whether to approve or reject the entire list.

Until that happens, everything is speculation, said William Young, president of Fredericksburg National Bank and a member of Gov. Mark Warner's BRAC commission.

"You're getting all these rumors and theories that have no base," Young said. "We're at that stage right now."

NSWC officials don't give the list any credence, either.

"This is a privately operated Web site with no ties to or support from the Department of Defense," NSWC spokesman Stacia Courtney said.

The office of Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-1st, has seen about 10 different lists, spokesman Chris Connelly said. Each was investigated, but none was credible, he said.

King George Supervisor Joseph Grzeika, who serves on Davis' BRAC task force, said he's seen about four lists. NSWC appeared on two.

"I don't forward them," he said. "I kill them when I get them."

Grzeika, a defense contractor, said he believes Dahlgren will be spared. And he said the information circulating now won't have any bearing.

Linda Worrell, president of the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, said BRAC can serve as a growth opportunity for the area's three local installations: NSWC, the Army's Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County and Quantico Marine Corps Base in Stafford and Prince William counties.

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Date published: 11/1/2003