BASE WORKERS VOW TO STAY PUT.

Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau

As the Pentagon prepares to make a final recommendation this week on whether to transfer as many as 6,000 jobs from Naval Base Ventura County, civilian employees have sent a message: They won't go.

Officials with the Base Realignment and Closure Commission say they've received about two dozen letters and e-mails from community members concerned about shifting research, development and testing work to China Lake Naval Weapons Station in Kern County.

And while that pales in comparison to the letters that have poured in from concerned citizens at other bases threatened with closure or cutbacks, officials said the community reaction carries weight.

``It's incredible to see the outpouring of support for installations, and of course you're going to say that it's amazing that they have this type of support,'' said commission spokesman Robert McCreary, adding, ``at the end of the day, we still have to make decisions based on what's best for the country.''

The commission is set to begin meeting today to vote on the list of 900 military installations tagged for closing, downsizing or growth.

Under Pentagon recommendations, Ventura County would lose more jobs than any county in California, largely from the job shifts from Point Mugu to China Lake.

Naval Base Ventura County includes operations at Port Hueneme, San Nicholas Island and Point Mugu, and oversees activities in a 36,000- square-mile sea test range in the Pacific Ocean.

Amid debate over the proposed cuts at the base, China Lake officials have argued that the shift would aid the military by consolidating operations.

But the letters from Ventura County supporters, while sparse, are unanimous: Moving jobs to China Lake, they say, will create a massive ``brain drain'' of high-paying technical jobs. And losing valuable civilian workers in a time of war will be a loss the military can't afford to suffer.

Engineers and others wrote that they retire early or find private-sector employment rather than relocate from the coast to the High Desert.

``This is not a threat. It's a promise,'' wrote Tim Mullins, an electronic technician at Point Mugu.

``I am not moving to China Lake. Hate the desert,'' wrote Donald Thompson of Camarillo, a retired Point Mugu naval flight officer who now works as a senior engineer doing missile testing at the base.

``My wife and I have no interest in living in Ridgecrest,'' wrote David Lott, an electronic engineer and contractor at Point Mugu. ``Like most people faced with moving to China Lake in Ridgecrest, I would not go.''

Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long, co-chairwoman of the county's BRAC task force, said recent surveys at Point Mugu have found that fewer than 15 percent of employees are willing to move to Ridgecrest.

``They don't have to move to China Lake. They can stay right here and find new employment in a minute,'' Long said. What will be damaged if so many civilians refuse to relocate, she said, is the military's electronic warfare division.

``You cannot re-create that overnight; I don't care how aggressive your recruitment seems to be,'' Long said.

Long and other supporters of Naval Base Ventura County sent final arguments to the commission last week, laying out the view that the move to China Lake will not save money and in fact will cost the military about $42 million.

That comes on top of testimony - in favor of the Ventura base - at commission hearings by everyone from U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks, and retired Rear Adms. George Strohsahl and Dana McKinney, both former commanding officers of the China Lake and Point Mugu operations. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, also submitted written testimony in support of the Ventura base.

Lisa Friedman, [phone]

lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com