Airships International Inc

From its headquarters in a doctor's office near the towering hangars at Tustin Marine Corps Air Station, a group calling itself Airships International Inc. is urging civic and military leaders to keep the former blimp base for what it sees as the inevitable return of dirigibles. The plea comes at a time when Washington politicians and the Pentagon have already agreed to sell the Tustin air station and move the 3,500 Marines and their helicopters to other bases.

From its headquarters in a doctor's office near the towering hangars at Tustin Marine Corps Air Station, a group calling itself Airships International Inc. is urging civic and military leaders to keep the former blimp base for what it sees as the inevitable return of dirigibles. The plea comes at a time when Washington politicians and the Pentagon have already agreed to sell the Tustin air station and move the 3,500 Marines and their helicopters to other bases.

Little opposition was offered Wednesday as a commission studying military base closures took testimony on a Pentagon recommendation to shut down the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station. In fact, Tustin City Councilwoman Leslie Anne Pontious told the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission that the city would not protest a move to shut down the base, if that is what President Bush and Congress want.

When the citizens of Tustin learned last month that their Marine Corps Air Station was targeted for closing, they reacted with neither anguish nor anger. Instead, they began looking to the future. In the month since the Pentagon's announcement, local government and business leaders have come up with a spate of novel ideas for transforming a potential economic setback into a second chance.