base closings announced yesterday.

The US Government said it planned to close or reduce 90 bases in Europe and two in South Korea.

But last night Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan warned Bermuda that the local Navy installation was not off the hook.

"So far, the principal focus of US military planners has been on domestic bases,'' he said.

"A further review of overseas bases will come up before the end of the year and Bermuda most likely will be included.'' Yesterday's announcement by US Defence secretary Mr. Les Aspin brings to 840 the number of overseas sites where the US military is cutting back operations, 773 of them in Europe.

Two weeks ago, US General Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Sir John the Bermuda base no longer served a military purpose.

Last night, the Premier said it was unclear whether the next overseas review would consider Bermuda for closure or reduction.

"We'll have to wait until the new Secretary of the Navy is appointed before we can get a fix on that,'' he said.

Any decision, he said, would be determined by US military strategic interests and increasingly tight spending restraints.

Yesterday, the former National Security Advisor to US president George Bush, General Brent Scowcroft, told The Royal Gazette that the US should maintain a presence in Bermuda.

"I think the benefits of having a presence (on a mid-ocean island) has to be weighed against the need to cut costs,'' he said in a telephone interview from Washington.

"Having a presence has an enduring value that we should look at very carefully.'' General Scowcroft, who visited Bermuda twice with President George Bush, indicated Congress may not be well disposed toward the Bermuda base.

"Many in Congress are critical saying the base is being kept open so Congressmen and Government officials can go on vacation there. It gives the impression that its more of a facility for rest and recreation than for any strategic interest.

"That's just a slight liability.'' Specific Congressional disapproval of the Bermuda base is largely the result of ABC newsman Sam Donaldson's December report that portrayed the base as the Navy's `Club Med'.

General Scowcroft said a mid-ocean base would continue to have value even though the submarine threat had diminished, particularly from the former Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies.

He said submarine threats could resurface.

Premier Swan has already conceded that operations at the US Naval Air Station will likely be cut back heavily. He said he is aiming to soften the blow for Bermudians by negotiating a phased withdrawal that would allow US personnel to train Bermudians in taking over operations such as air traffic control.

The US Navy currently runs airport traffic and maintenance operations.