Guest column - How Hampton is addressing the possible loss of JFCOM

Tuesday, 31 August 2010 12:00

By Bruce Sturk
Director of Federal Facilities Support,
City of Hampton


Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announcement that he intends to close United States Joint Forces Command (JFCOM), based in Norfolk and with an annex in Suffolk, should serve as a wake up call for residents in Hampton, as well as the Hampton Roads region as a whole.  

While the proposed closure would most certainly create significant economic impacts to the region, more important is how the potential impact to joint training could be harmful to our national security.  

In the early 1980’s, congress became increasingly concerned that our separate military branches (Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force) were ill equipped and inadequately prepared to fight as a cohesive joint team.  In 1986, the federal government passed the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. According to Wikipedia, it was "an attempt to fix problems caused by inter-service rivalry which had emerged during the Vietnam War, contributed to the catastrophic failure of the Iranian hostage rescue mission in 1980, and which were still evident in the invasion of Grenada in 1983." 

Read more: Guest column - How Hampton is addressing the possible loss of JFCOM

An open letter to the community - Please help up preserve our neighborhood history

Friday, 27 August 2010 00:11

From Flora J. Randall,
Secretary, Northampton Civic League

Do you remember when Todd’s Lane and Big Bethel Road in the Northampton area of Hampton were merely dusty and somewhat rough dirt roads? How about when most of the surrounding area near these roads was still rural and cows, horses and chickens roamed freely as a normal part of the landscape?  

If you can actually remember a Northampton like this (or know someone who can), or grew up here or have lived here for many years; or owned and or worked in a local business; or have belonged for a while to one of the local churches, organizations, or schools  - then members of the Northampton Civic League (NHCL) want to talk to you.

Read more: An open letter to the community - Please help up preserve our neighborhood history