San Diego military payroll tops in the nation

By Gary Robbins, UNION-TRIBUNE
Monday, August 30, 2010 at 12:35 p.m.

San Diego County's military payroll is now the largest in the country, reflecting the Defense Department's decision to shift resources to the West Coast to contend with real and potential threats from China and the Middle East.

The payroll of local active duty personnel increased by $1.3 billion last year, to $11.1 billion, pushing the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos metro area ahead of the huge military complex in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Newport News , says the Commerce Department. It was the first time since 1986 that the local payroll was bigger than that in the Virginia area.

"The shift shows that we've gone from worrying about NATO and Russia to worrying about China and Iraq," said Eric Wertheim, author and editor of the Naval Institute's "Guide to Combat Fleets of the World."

"The fastest route to those areas is from the West Coast, not the East Coast."

The Navy has been steadily reassigning warships to San Diego, which now has at least 56 vessels here. That figure is scheduled to rise to 83 by 2014. And Camp Pendleton is in the midst of a $3 billion construction boom that will last into 2012.

The on-going buildup helped limit the economic losses that San Diego County has suffered due to Great Recession and the collapse in the housing market.

"If federal and military wages had not increased in 2009, and all other (income) transfers remained the same, San Diego's personal income would have declined 3.1 percent, similar to percentage declines endured in other large Sun Belt metros devastated by the housing downturn," said Kelly Cunningham, an economist with the National University System Institute for Policy Research in La Jolla.

"Despite remaining the nation's largest recipient of military dollars (primarily because of San Diego), California nevertheless led the nation among states in 2009 for total income losses. If not for increased military earnings and other federal government income, California would have lost at least $43.8 billion (-2.8 percent).

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... ps-nation/