military base closures around the world.

"I'd have to say we're probably relieved,'' said Ensign Marie McGahan, spokesman for the US Naval Air Station at St. David's where about 600 military personnel are assigned.

The Secretary of Defence announced the closure or downsizing of 29 overseas sites, affecting more than 2,200 military positions.

The latest wave of cuts means the US has slashed its overseas military presence by 42 percent since 1990.

In that time, 150 US servicemen were transferred from St. David's and another 165 were moved from the US Naval Facility oceanographic data centre which was decommissioned in November. And the US Naval Annex will have only caretaker presence as of April 1, Ens. McGahan told The Royal Gazette .

Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan said he hoped yesterday's list of closed bases was the final one, but "we shouldn't just simply delude ourselves into thinking we've escaped it, and that's that.'' The Bermuda Government has made "strong recommendations'' to the US Government about the role Bermuda plays and can play, Sir John said. That lobbying will continue, he said.

The role of the base has changed over the years, Sir John said, and today it is important to the US for three main reasons: While the island is isolated, huge amounts of air traffic bound for all parts of the world pass over or near Bermuda, making its airport and resources extremely important, particulary for flights in difficulty; From maritime and communications standpoints, "the Base has played a very important role,'' and once again is in a very high traffic area for ships bound for the Middle East and elsewhere; For the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US Naval Air Station is the first communications window for the launch of a space shuttle, and the first place the shuttle can put down in an aborted launch.

"The next spot is in Europe, 3,500 miles away,'' Sir John said. Also, it is still too early to say how things will shape up in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Sir John said.

At US Navy Atlantic Fleet Headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, Commander Tim Taylor said the changes that affected the US Naval Air Station in Bermuda were announed in 1990, and "there is no additional information and no additional reductions and changes that are part of the announcement today''.

But "the list that's come out today from Washington doesn't say there won't be more in future,'' he said. "It doesn't mean you're home free.'' Ens. McGahan said personnel in St. David's had no way of knowing in advance whether Bermuda would be on the list released yesterday. "Every base gives input and says why they are needed or how they should be reduced,'' she said.

"You just hope that people will accept your justifications.''