Plans to close Air Force base and Naval shipyard temporarily shelved by legislation.

Plans to close Air Force base and Naval shipyard temporarily shelved by legislation

Two Los Angeles County military bases that were being studied for closing have been given a reprieve under new federal legislation passed late last year.

The military said, however, that personnel cuts under President Bush's proposed 1992 defense budget may affect the Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo and the Naval Shipyard in Long Beach.

The two bases, which employ close to 8,500 military and civilian personnel, had been on a Pentagon list of military facilities targeted for possible closure over the next three years. But the Department of Defense has, for the time being, discontinued studies of base closings, Navy and Air Force officials said.

They added, though, that the studies could resume later this year.

"Right now we're not being considered for closure because of the Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990. Until some new and revised recommendations are made, we're on equal footing with all other bases in the country," said Air Force Lt. Lewonnie Belcher, a spokeswoman at the El Segundo facility.

A spokeswoman for the Navy in Washington said the Naval Shipyard is not currently being considered for closing because of the legislation.

Belcher said about 471 of the 1,500 civilian positions at the Air Force station have been targeted for possible elimination as a result of Bush's budget proposal. The Navy spokeswoman said it was too early to say whether any jobs would be lost at the shipyard, which last year employed about 5,000 civilians and 37 military personnel.

In a statement, however, the Navy said: "The preliminary numbers indicate that there probably will be reductions in depot maintenance work. In order to protect these valuable national assets (the shipyards), the workload will be distributed in such a manner that will allow the Navy to maintain necessary shipyard capability.

"The impact on individual naval shipyards will not be known until after the fleet scheduling conference in April."

Another Navy spokesman said the USS Missouri, a destroyer now in action in the Persian Gulf, is scheduled to be decommissioned, which could result in personnel reductions at the shipyard.

The El Segundo facility is headquarters of the Air Force's space systems division, which plans, programs and manages acquisition of space systems, including three projects that are part of the Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars. The three Star Wars programs are known as the Advanced Warning System, Brilliant Eyes and Brilliant Pebbles.

In the military budget he proposed last week, Bush asked for $4.58 billion in fiscal 1992 and $4.93 billion in 1993 for SDI programs. Under the current year's budget, Star Wars' programs receive $2.87 billion.

The Air Force base, which also conducts extensive research on various space and satellite systems, currently has about 1,800 military personnel, in addition to its 1,500 civilian workers, said Belcher.

Most municipal officials in the Long Beach and El Segundo areas have campaigned to keep the facilities open.