In New England, a sense of abandonment

‘North/South’ and ‘surface/sub’
In a country where talk of the Red state/Blue state divide is only ever a cold beer away, the demographic trend in the military, coupled with the particular hit New England is taking in the latest round of base closings, has raised some hackles here. Newspapers around the region have decried the plan as a vengeful move to punish those states who voted for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. in last year's presidential elections. The Pentagon has pointed out that, in fact, President Bush's state, Texas, is among the states that would lose the most jobs.

Michael Moran / MSNBC.com Bud Fay, leader of the "Save Our Base" coalition, behind the counter of his Groton luncheonette/laundromat on Tuesday.

Nonetheless, theories and anguished finger-pointing have ensued. On Monday, members of the House National Defense committee held a field hearing at the submarine base, touring nuclear submarines, barracks and the nearby Electric Boat division of General Dynamics, which has built the majority of the nation's submarines for nearly a century. The hearing featured two senior Navy submarine officers criticizing the proposed closure as a threat to the Navy's submarine fleet, which has dwindled to 54 active duty attack subs and may shrink further as their primary mission -- shadowing Soviet vessels -- has faded.

Among those attending was Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Va., whose state includes the giant Norfolk Navy base where Groton's subs would move. Speaking to local reporters, she was greeted with skepticism when she insisted that she would only support the move of thousands of jobs to her Virginia constituency if it made national security sense.

"There is a bit of a North-South thing going on here," says Cook, the state senator, who watched the news conference. "I can say things that these folks can't, I guess. I just think that this decision is being taken for the wrong reasons, and that after all the sacrifice and service this community has given the Navy, we should be treated a bit better.

"But," she quickly added, "I don't think the fight's over yet."

For Bud Fay, expecting sympathy or thanks from the Pentagon is not part of the plan. A spry 77-year-old veteran of the Navy's cargo fleet -- ("I spent my Navy career praying I'd never see a submarine," he quips), Fay says national security is the reason Groton must stay open.

"This is a center - no, the center of excellence in the construction of nuclear submarines," he says. "Are they useful against Osama bin Laden? Perhaps not as useful as some weapons. But we can't see into the future, and moving this base would not just disperse the Navy people here, it would disrupt [sub maker] Electric Boat and all the subcontractors around here who have produced the greatest subs in the world for the past 50 years."

Fay takes a break to make change for a man in Marine Corps fatigues with a basket of laundry under one arm and a toddler under the other. "This isn't your average, transient military town, you know," he says. "We don't see the difference -- military, civilian. Submariners are a different breed, and a lot of them are lifers. And that made them stay here even after they got out."

Asked whether he really feels he can resist the Pentagon's wishes, Fay answers with the words of another New England sailor: "I have not yet begun to fight."

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