Mayport to get nuclear carrier

[jtwestside]

I've heard figures tossed around as high as 6k new jobs. Anyone know if these are civilian or military jobs?

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2008/11/17/daily6.html

Naval Station Mayport will be getting a nuclear-powered carrier, multiple Congressional sources confirmed Monday afternoon.

The Navy told key Florida lawmakers, including Sens. Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez as well Rep. Ander Crenshaw, that Mayport will be a home port for a nuclear carrier.

Nelson received word around noon in a phone call from Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter.

[copperfiend]

Good news for Jacksonville.

[Jason]

Holy cow, this is a BIG DEAL!

I'd assume the majority of the new jobs will be military because of the regulations involved with nuclear power as well as the mass of personell that will be manning the ship itself, but I'm not sure.

[thelakelander]

I think we sometimes underestimate the importance of our Navy facilities.  This is huge news.

[fsujax]

This is good news and I hope it really happens. With so much bad news out there, its nice to hear something good for a change.

[MattnJax]

Awesome news for the area. This along with the Hanjin deal and the proposed Mayport cruise terminal show just how vital our waterways are for our area economy.

[Joe]

Yeah, wow. This is indeed big big news.

This is along the lines of landing a fortune 500 company (or two) in terms of economic impact to the city.

Beyond the direct impact of new jobs, it also probably guarantees that Mayport and NAS are immune from the next round of base closures.

[RiversideGator]

Great news!  Bring us the new carrier.  The sooner the better. 

BTW, why should dredging and wharf improvements take 5 years??  We won WW2 and developed the atomic bomb faster than that.  Must be budgetary problems.

[Bostech]

Great news!  Bring us the new carrier.  The sooner the better. 

BTW, why should dredging and wharf improvements take 5 years??  We won WW2 and developed the atomic bomb faster than that.  Must be budgetary problems.

They are dredging using boats not by bombing river with nuclear bombs.

[BridgeTroll]

Great news!  Bring us the new carrier.  The sooner the better. 

BTW, why should dredging and wharf improvements take 5 years??  We won WW2 and developed the atomic bomb faster than that.  Must be budgetary problems.

It wont... The carrier will probably begin using Mayport in three years or so.  It is the support facilities that must be built, rebuilt.  The biggest being the nuclear support facilities.  I imagine Mayport NAS needs upgrades also since the nuke will carry significantly more and newer types of aircraft than JFK did.

[Charles Hunter]

If I remember correctly, not that many of the carrier-based aircraft were land-based at Mayport NS.  Most were at Cecil, some at NAS-JAX, and at other bases along the east coast.  Hopefully, someone with more knowledge here will chime in.

[BridgeTroll]

If I remember correctly, not that many of the carrier-based aircraft were land-based at Mayport NS.  Most were at Cecil, some at NAS-JAX, and at other bases along the east coast.  Hopefully, someone with more knowledge here will chime in.

You are correct.  Between deployments the airwing will mostly be stationed at Oceana in Virginia.  NAS Mayport will still have to be able to provide support though.

[MattnJax]

If I remember correctly, not that many of the carrier-based aircraft were land-based at Mayport NS.  Most were at Cecil, some at NAS-JAX, and at other bases along the east coast.  Hopefully, someone with more knowledge here will chime in.

You are correct.  Between deployments the airwing will mostly be stationed at Oceana in Virginia.  NAS Mayport will still have to be able to provide support though.

That sucks that most of the airwing will be stationed in Virginia. I don't understand why we can't station them here. Do we not have the facilities?

[GatorShane]

This only proves my point stated here before. The St. Johns River, with the expanding port, new cruise ship terminal, and an expanded Mayport, will be the economic engine that drives this city for years to come.

[fsujax]

Water has always been important to Jacksonville, it is great that our economy continues to recieve good news in these slow times. Thank God for our river and what it means to us.