Principi: Royse misleading Woodbridge voters

Is Woodbridge Supervisor candidate Chris Royse misleading potential voters about U.S. AFRICOM?

Incumbent Frank J. Principi thinks so.

Insidenova.com and the News & Messenger received results of a Freedom of Information Act request from Principi’s office which confirms that Royse – a Republican -- has never had any official contact with members of the military installation currently located in Stuttgart, Germany.

In at least one speech to potential voters, Royse says that AFRICOM is “real and it’s going to happen.”

In the same speech, posted on www.chrisroyse.com, he states that he had conversations with former U.S. Congressman Tom Davis and current Congressman Rob Wittman about AFRICOM and said it could happen in four years.

“Chris Royse is misleading Woodbridge voters about his number one campaign issue,” Principi stated in a press release on Monday afternoon. “If he is misleading us about this issue, can he be trusted with any of the other issues important to families and businesses in Woodbridge?”

In an email to the newspaper, Royse stated that he hadn’t spoken with anyone from AFRICOM. But he said that a previous News & Messenger article in which he mentions speaking with a number of local politicians as well as with former AFRICOM commander William “Kip” Ward was accurate.

“I am willing to roll up my sleeves, and do the hard, grassroots work necessary to achieve a big goal, like bringing AFRICOM and its associated jobs to Woodbridge,” stated Royse, who lost to Principi in 2007.

For the time being, it looks like AFRICOM is staying put. On its website, it states “The command has no plans to move its headquarters from Stuttgart and will be located here for the foreseeable future.”

AFRICOM, is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the U.S. Department of Defense, and is devoted solely to Africa. It was created by former President George W. Bush in 2007 and became operational in 2008.

The News & Messenger has made efforts to contact Davis and Wittman to confirm Royse’s public statements but so far has been unsuccessful. U.S. Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner have already made a pitch for bringing AFRICOM to the Hampton Roads area.  According to Norfolk TV station, WAVY, the Department of Defense agreed to include Virginia in the assessment of alternate locations for the AFRICOM headquarters, which employs 1,500.

Warner spokesman Kevin Hall told the Virginian Pilot in April that the Pentagon doesn’t have a preference at this point as to where to locate AFRICOM. Previous reports have listed Charleston, S.C. Air Force Base as a leading contender for AFRICOM.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-530-3904.