Former U.S. president George H.W. Bush (2nd L) waves to the crowd after his children, Doro Bush Koch (L) and current U.S. President George W. Bush (R), and Northrup Grumman Newport News President Mike Petters (2nd R) christened the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush in Newport News, Virginia, October 7, 2006. (Xinhua Photo/Reuters) From Forbes/AP:
Mayport Naval Station will become the home of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Navy announced Wednesday.
The carrier will bring 3,190 military jobs and pump about $500 million into the north Florida economy in salaries and spending.
Navy Secretary Donald Winter signed the official documents Wednesday, so work can begin on preparing the base at the mouth of the St. Johns River for a carrier, expected as early as 2014.
"For more than 60 years, the Navy has seen the rich strategic benefits in home-porting aircraft carriers at Mayport. Secretary Winter's action underscores our strategic importance and the critical nature of having more than one aircraft carrier homeport on the East Coast," said U.S. Mel Martinez, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower.
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