TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO Friday October 14, 1994
It’s decision time on RAF base
An announcement on the future of the military base at Machrihanish is expected within the next fortnight.
An RAF spokesman told the Courier earlier this week that ‘the long-term future of the base is under consideration and an announcement is expected within the next two to three weeks’.
He declined to comment on speculation that the US Navy has given the Ministry of Defence six months’ notice that it intends to pull its naval commando unit out of Machrihanish.
A US Navy spokesman denied that a decision on the presence of Naval Special Warfare Unit 2, as the unit at Machrihanish is known, has been taken. But it has been known for some time that the unit’s presence at Machrihanish has been under review by United States’ military command in Europe.
The final decision lies with the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General George Jowlan.
It is understood that the Americans could be leaving Machrihanish as soon as April next year.
They have been at Machrihanish since 1980 and a total of 140 US personnel and their families are stationed at the base.
Earlier this year an RAF spokesman told the Courier that if the US Navy did pull out then the future of the Machrihanish base would need to be reviewed.
Local schools could also be affected by a rundown at the base. Campbeltown Grammar School has 20 fewer pupils than expected this term because service families have been leaving the area.
Rector William Crossan said staffing levels were already being reviewed and it was possible two teaching posts might be lost.
In June, RAF Machrihanish was put on a care and maintenance basis which will eventually mean the loss of 88 jobs and £1.5 million a year from the economy.
Recently a £50 million upgrading of the base, including improvements to runways, hangars and storage areas, was completed.