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Two jet fighter squadrons with crews of 500 officers and enlisted men and women are in line to move from the East Coast to Lemoore Naval Air Station, probably in spring 2014, the Navy said Friday.
The Navy will make a final decision on the move by 2014, said Ted Brown, a spokesman for Fleet Forces Command.
However welcoming the prospect of the relocations might be for Lemoore boosters, the looming question of where the next generation of jet fighters -- 100 Navy F-35C Joint Striker Fighter jets -- will be based remains up in the air.
An environmental-impact statement is being prepared to evaluate both Lemoore and an air base in El Centro in Imperial County, with a recommendation slated to be released in 2013.
But the announcement that the path is cleared for two new squadrons -- which ones haven't been determined yet --
to make Lemoore their home "strengthens the viability of this base," said John Lehn, president and CEO of the Kings County Economic Development Corp.
The squadrons would move west from the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia. They would fly F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets, said Melinda Larson, Lemoore base spokeswoman.
That's not the only change the Navy is moving toward.
According to the environmental assessment, five squadrons at Lemoore would have their older F/A-18C Hornet jet fighters retired and replaced by Super Hornets,
and a squadron assigned to train pilots would lose 30 older Hornets that won't be replaced.
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