04/15/02
Early departure for base chief
GIDGET FUENTES
Staff Writer
North County Time
CAMP PENDLETON ---- The commander of the Marine Corps' West Coast training base will be retiring this summer, just one year after arriving, several military and local community officials said Thursday.
Marine Maj. Gen. David F. Bice, 56, took command of the 125,000-acre Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base on June 8. A spokesman for the two-star general, Maj. Curtis Hill, would not confirm reports that Bice is retiring.
"General Bice has served our nation for 34 years and is apparently looking beyond," Hill said Thursday. "But no official announcement has been made."
Marine Corps officials usually send a letter of resignation or retirement to the Marine Corps commandant, and Bice has not yet done that, he said, adding that the general is "still here, and he's still working."
Word of Bice's apparent summertime retirement spread through North County and came as a surprise to some community leaders who expected he would remain in the post for at least two years.
Ken Noonan, Oceanside Unified School District superintendent, said Bice "has been a tremendous supporter" and said that he and his staff members are highly involved in many school policies and issues.
"I wish him well, but I wish he were staying longer," Noonan said.
Members of the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce learned from Marine Col. MaryAnn Krusa-Dossin of the base commanding general's plans at a military affairs committee breakfast Thursday.
David Nydegger, the chamber's executive director, said he was surprised by the news.
Bice "has been a pleasure to work with," Nydegger said. "He and his wife have really embraced Oceanside and the community."
Nydegger said that, historically, more base commanders at Camp Pendleton have retired from the job instead of being reassigned elsewhere, but noted an exception in Lt. Gen. Edward Hanlon Jr., Bice's predecessor who heads the Marine Corps' combat development command in Virginia.
"Normally, (Camp Pendleton) is a retirement job," he said. "This is the last stopping point."
Several people attending the chamber's monthly gathering said they have been working closely with the two-star general on several community projects.
Al Renteria, president of the Navy League's Tri-City Council, said he was surprised and "a little disappointed" by the news.
Renteria, a retired Marine chief warrant officer from Fallbrook, said Bice has been a big supporter of Operation Interdependence™, a Navy League program supported by local business and sponsored by the North County Times to send "care packages" to Marines and sailors sent overseas. Bice "successfully made that possible," he said.
When Bice, a Vietnam veteran, took command of Camp Pendleton, he told the North County Times that security and safety were his highest priority. He has received high marks for his response as base commander after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which included beefing up entrance gates and adding barriers and instituting stricter identification controls.
"Bice has made probably more progress in eight or nine months" than other officers, said Stan Hillery of Oceanside, a retired sergeant major and an active volunteer with the Navy League. "His number one priority, having come from (a job in) Europe, was being familiar with terrorism."
Hillery said Bice also "has made tremendous progress" in Marine Corps Community Services, the base's umbrella organization that includes dozens of family services, retiree activities, counseling programs, and youth and recreation activities.
Marine Corps officials said no decision has yet been made on who would replace Bice as the base commander this summer.
Federal law dictates the number of general officers in the Marine Corps, those in the ranks of brigadier general, major general, lieutenant general and general. The law also manages the number of officers and top leaders in the military services.
Several Marine officials noted that some senior officers are still awaiting their promotions already approved and confirmed by the Senate. This includes Brig. Gen. James N. Mattis, who commands the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade at Camp Pendleton and was selected last year for promotion to major general.
Contact staff writer Gidget Fuentes at (760) 901-4072 or gfuentes@nctimes.com.