“The optimist sees the donut; the pessimist sees the hole.” – Oscar Wilde
For too long, is it possible that the state’s military leadership has viewed the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos as the hole and not the donut.
Let’s face it, as proud as most people are to have one of the few remaining military bases in southern California nearby, the base has been allowed to become a shadow of its former self.
Older residents in the community tell me they remember when the base was a jewel. Entrances had palm-tree lined boulevards, its grounds filled with manicured lawns, landscaping, buildings painted, roads smooth, etc.
Not so much today. Let’s face it, problems exist and frankly, there are some rugged areas on the base, though deep pride remains.
It was particularly disappointing to note that bickering among state and federal bureaucrats, albeit military, apparently caused a potential huge economic shot in the arm to leave the base.
Armed with a $30 million appropriation to build a new facility, the state’s Office of Emergency Services negotiated for two years trying to win approval to build a new facility on the base, where it exactly should be. ENE spoke to former OES officials involved to confirm the failed negotiations. OES has announced they are moving to Santa Ana to construct a new facility there.
Though they may leave behind a small contingent, using a standard economic multiplier, this could amount to a loss of more than $200 million economic stimulus to the Los Al area. In addition, the same issues have reportedly prevented new structural investments in other programs on the base.
Granted, while we can certainly understand there are legitimate state vs federal issues, both the state and federal governments operate with the people’s money so why can they not be more sensitive to what’s good for the base and the overall community rather.
Though problems remain, the base does an excellent job of supporting a variety of military deployments, cooperative endeavors and other special missions. Let’s face it, the digital transformation of society is changing institutional value across the spectrum and military bases are not immune to change.
It is exciting, then, to listen to Lt. Dan Fox, who has deployed here from the Pentagon as the base’s new commander (see related story). He appears to be a straight-talking leader ready to engage the community and ready to push the limits with his bosses in Sacramento.
During his address to regional military leaders last week, Col. Fox brimmed with excitement and acknowledged the need for “beautification” and purpose to the base.
More critically, his remarks seemed to indicate how valuable community outreach remains to the success of the JFTB mission, seemingly acknowledging that additional community events will provide value both to the base and the community.
His Pentagon experience leaves him with the benefit of understanding how politics works at the highest levels, and hopefully, this California native is now happy to be home and eager and equipped to revitalize a base that he is obviously very proud to command.
Perhaps we can attribute it to generational change, but what is generally a rather routine meeting provided a glimpse at an exciting future of military inclusion into the community.
Also attending, Capt. Jessica O’Brien, the first female commander of the Seal Beach Naval weapons station, brimmed with excitement and she announced many innovative plans for community involvement that will be announced soon.
Commander Lisa Starkey, who commands the local Coast Guard Station, announced that the nation’s first-ever 370-foot Coast Guard cutter that was recently launched, will be headed here.
It is an truly an exciting outlook for the regional military units and for the surrounding communities that support them with so much pride.
Therefore, we can only hope that Lt. Col. Fox’s interest in community outreach will build sufficient support to send a message to higher ups that JFTB needs a bit of love. There is no question that this community is exceptionally proud of having a military base in their midst.
Our local military leaders are ready to step up with exciting visions for the future, so we extend our support to Col. Fox as he takes on the big brass in Sacramento in an effort to reinstitute community programs and opportunities lost because of mindless bureaucratic infighting.
We see the donut, not the hole and hope decision makers will as well.
