Giuliani promises Mayport carrier if elected

[unhappycamper]

Republican presidential hopeful and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani makes a point during a campaign stop speech at Gulf Coast Community College on Jan. 16 in Panama City, Fla.


Giuliani promises Mayport carrier if elected
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 16, 2008 17:06:31 EST

The Navy’s final Nimitz-class aircraft carrier would be homeported at Naval Base Mayport, Fla., if Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani is elected, he said in a Jacksonville campaign speech Tuesday, campaign officials confirmed.

The former New York mayor acknowledged that the Mayport base would need upgrades before it could become the home of the nuclear-powered carrier George H.W. Bush, the Jacksonville Business Journal reported, but he said the improvements would be worth it because the Navy should spread its carriers to multiple bases so they aren’t all together in the event of an attack.

A pair of retired senior naval officers appeared onstage with Giuliani when he made the carrier promise, the newspaper reported.

Campaign spokesman Elliott Bundy said Giuliani isn’t sure yet if he will also call for more warships from the Bush’s strike group to be based at Mayport. His remarks Tuesday were more of a general statement of support for a nuclear carrier than a specific proposal, Bundy said.

Mayport was the home port of the conventionally powered carrier John F. Kennedy at the end of its service life, although the JFK was decommissioned and towed out of Mayport in the summer of 2007. U.S. officials now are conducting an environmental impact study to determine whether the base could support a nuclear-powered carrier, and aren’t expected to reach a formal conclusion until mid-2009.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/01/navy_rudy_cvnpromise_080116w/



uhc comment: I have to ask myself - how many times did Rudy say 911 during this brilliant :sarcasm: speech? Normally I'd look it up, but I don't care.