Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command

Not to be confused with SOSUS Shore facilities, which are also called Naval Facility (NAVFAC).

38°52′26.1″N 76°59′44.1″W / 38.873917°N 76.995583°W / 38.873917; -76.995583

Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC)
Founded	1966; 58 years ago (1966)
Allegiance	United States of America
Branch	United States Navy
Type	SYSCOM
Garrison/HQ	Washington Navy Yard, Washington D.C., U.S.
Website	www.navfac.navy.mil
Commanders
Chief of Civil Engineers	RADM Dean VanderLey, CEC, USN
Executive Director	Jennifer LaTorre
Deputy Commander	RADM Troy M. McClelland, CEC, USN
Force Master Chief	Lawrence W. Sharpe, USN

The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) is the United States Navy's engineering systems command, providing the Navy and United States Marine Corps with facilities and expeditionary expertise. NAVFAC is headquartered at the Washington Navy Yard and is under the command of the Chief of Civil Engineers RADM Dean VanderLey^[1]

The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command is the oldest of the Navy's system commands, having been established as the Bureau of Yards and Docks in August 1842. Its officers comprise the Navy Civil Engineer Corps, which was formed in March 1867. During the 1966 reorganization of the Department of the Navy, the Bureau of Yards and Docks became the Naval Facilities Engineering Command. In October 2020, the name changed to the current Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command.^[2]

Organization

The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command delivers facilities engineering and acquisition for the Navy and Marine Corps through six business lines.^[3][4]

Business Lines

As of July 2022, NAVFAC consisted of the following nine business lines per its website:

• Asset Management: Manages the full real estate function for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, including acquisitions, disposals, easements and leases, as well as overseeing global and regional shore strategic planning.^[5]
• Design and Construction: Delivers facilities project development, design, and construction, as well as expertise in medical facilities and waterfront and ocean facilities.^[6]
• Environmental: Provides environmental management and technical support necessary for Navy and Marine Corps compliance with federal, state, local and host nation regulations.^[7]
• Expeditionary: Provides support for a broad community, which includes the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, Naval Beach Groups, Naval Special Warfare, Navy Expeditionary Medical Support and similar expeditionary forces ashore.^[8]
• Public Works: Supports installation infrastructure, which includes facility management, utilities and energy management, base support vehicles and equipment, facility support contracts management, and facility services.^[9]
• Office of Small Business Programs ^[10]
• Safety -Mishap Prevention and Hazard Abatement ^[11]
• Real Estate: acquisition, management, and disposal of real estate interests required by the Navy and Marine Corps^[12]
• New Business Line Landing Page

The contingency engineering section which as of 2020 provided contingency contracting, exercise and crisis planning, natural disaster support, remote construction, and technical reach-back support,^[13] was no longer listed as of July 2022.

Component Commands

As of 2015, NAVFAC consisted of 13 component commands; nine are Facilities Engineering Commands that report to either NAVFAC Atlantic or NAVFAC Pacific.^[14]

 

Officers of NAVFAC Atlantic in 2016

NAVFAC Atlantic in Norfolk, VA

• NAVFAC Europe Africa Central (EURAFCENT) in Naples, Italy
• NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic (ML) in Norfolk, VA
• NAVFAC Southeast (SE) in Jacksonville, FL
• NAVFAC Washington (WASH) in Washington, D.C.

 

A 2017 meeting of the NAVFAC Pacific Board of Directors at Fort Shafter, Honolulu, Hawaii

NAVFAC Pacific in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

• NAVFAC Far East (FE) in Yokosuka, Japan
• NAVFAC Hawaii (HI) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• NAVFAC Marianas (MAR) in Piti, Guam
• NAVFAC Northwest (NW) in Silverdale, WA
• NAVFAC Southwest (SW) in San Diego, CA

There are also two specialty commands, Navy Crane Center (NCC) at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia and Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (EXWC) at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, California.

History

 

Logo of the Bureau of Yards and Docks

Bureau of Yards and Docks

On August 31, 1842, the Bureau of Navy Yards and Docks (BuDocks) was established, the forerunner to the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command.^[2]

In early days of BuDocks, the command originally had responsibility only for the design, construction, and maintenance of Navy yards and a few other shore stations. In 1842 there were seven Navy yards arrayed along the eastern seaboard of the United States. Captain Lewis Warrington, a line officer, and six civilian employees, were assigned to administer public works at these yards.^[2]

During the second half of the 19th century, the Bureau of Yards and Docks guided the temporary expansion of the shore establishment that was necessary to fight the American Civil War. It also oversaw the development of permanent Navy yards on the Pacific Coast at Mare Island, California, and Puget Sound, Washington.^[2]

In 1898, the Spanish–American War precipitated a great increase in the Bureau's activities. Its civilian workforce grew from seven to 22 people and the Civil Engineer Corps—which had been established in 1867—was expanded from 10 to 21 commissioned officers, five of whom reported for duty at Bureau Headquarters. The treaty at the war's end led to the construction of naval stations in Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. In the next few years the Navy yards at Boston, Norfolk, and Philadelphia were modernized and a new yard was built at Charleston, South Carolina.^[2]

During the early years of the 20th century, the United States Congress expanded the Bureau's responsibilities by consolidating Navy public works under its control. The most important law was passed in 1911, when Congress placed the design and construction of all naval shore stations under BuDocks control. Previously the bureau that operated each type of shore facility had performed its own design and construction; for example, the Bureau of Ordnance built naval magazines and the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery built naval hospitals.^[2]

The experience gained by the Bureau during its first 75 years laid the foundation for its large growth during World War I. Between July 1916 and the armistice in November 1918, the Bureau expended $347 million for public works. That was more money than the Navy had spent on shore stations in the previous 116 years. The construction program included 35 naval training stations, in addition to submarine bases at New London, Connecticut; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Coco Solo, Panama; as well as naval air stations at locations throughout the eastern United States, and in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Tunisia and France.^[2]

Between WWI and WWII

The period between the world wars was generally a time of retrenchment and stagnation for Navy Public Works. By 1921, more than 375 ships had been decommissioned and the shore establishment shrank accordingly. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Congress appropriated some money for a naval construction program, which made improvements in shore facilities while providing much-needed jobs for unemployed civilians. When the Second World War broke out in Europe in 1939, the Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) had fewer than 200 officers on active duty and the shore establishment was woefully unprepared for a major conflict.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Navy's military construction program amounted to global proportions, expanding far beyond the continental United States and its prewar possessions to Europe, North Africa, Asia and the far corners of the Pacific. To provide supervisors for this huge wartime effort, more than 10,000 Reserve CEC officers were recruited from civilian life between 1940 and 1945.

The establishment of bases in war zones, where workers were subject to enemy attack, made the use of civilian construction men impractical at many overseas locations. Therefore, in 1942 Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, implemented a proposal mapped out by the Bureau's War Plans Section during the 1930s where experienced construction workers were recruited into the Navy to build overseas bases. Thus, the Naval Construction Force – popularly known as the Seabees – was born. The new Seabees received brief military training before shipping overseas to build advance bases in war zones. Led by Reserve CEC officers, the 325,000 men recruited for the Seabees during World War II built bases on six continents and at locations all over the Pacific. Without the Seabees, the Navy's huge advance-base construction program would not have been possible.^[2]

WWII boom

World War II presented the Bureau of Yards and Docks with the greatest challenge in its history. The value of the naval shore establishment in 1939 was estimated at less than half a billion dollars; by 1945 the shore establishment was worth at least $6.5 billion. All of this new construction was carried out under the Bureau's cognizance.

At the end of the war, the Bureau faced a new problem—maintaining a much larger shore establishment with reduced funding. The onset of the Cold War in the late 1940s led to some much-needed increases in the Bureau's budget. Then, in 1950 the Korean War, which required more men and materials than World War I, presented the Bureau with new challenges. With the help of the Seabees, it met the emergency. CEC officers and Seabees built bases throughout the Pacific to support United Nations troops. In Korea the Seabees placed landing causeways for the invasion forces and built air bases and camps.^[2]

Vietnam

In the mid-1960s the Vietnam War started. Although it was modest in size compared to World War II, it nonetheless created a demand for a substantial amount of military construction. In 1963 the Bureau of Yards and Docks was formally designated as the contract construction agent for Southeast Asia and became responsible for nearly all U.S. construction there, including facilities built for the United States Army, the United States Air Force, and other federal government agencies. Nearly 1.8 billion dollars’ worth of construction went into Vietnam under the Military Construction Program commonly known as MILCON.

Meanwhile, in May 1966, as a result of a Navy Department reorganization, the Bureau of Yards and Docks was renamed Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), one of six systems commands under the Chief of Naval Material. This reorganization eliminated the traditional bilinear organization under which the Chief of Naval Operations and the chiefs of the various bureaus reported separately to the Secretary of the Navy. The result was a unilinear organization, under which the systems commands reported to the Chief of Naval Material, who in turn reported to the CNO. In the mid-1980s the Naval Material Command was disestablished; and NAVFAC began reporting directly to the Chief of Naval Operations.

U.S. forces withdrew from Vietnam in 1973 and the end of American participation in the war brought demobilization and funding cuts to the Navy. In 1970, in anticipation of postwar reductions, NAVFAC consolidated its 13 engineering field divisions into six. The concentration of technical expertise into fewer and larger divisions led to a stronger and more efficient field organization. Within NAVFAC, in the 1970s emphasis was placed on improvements in personnel facilities to support the new all-volunteer Navy, environmental protection, and energy conservation.^[2]

Peacetime

The tight military budgets of the 1970s did not last long, however, for in 1980 the United States began one of the largest peacetime military buildups in its history. For fiscal year 1981, President Jimmy Carter requested an increase in the Department of Defense budget of more than 5 percent real growth. After Ronald Reagan took office the next January, the DOD budget grew even faster.^[2]

In 1981 Secretary of the Navy John Lehman embarked upon a major program of shipbuilding to increase the fleet from 540 ships to 600 ships by the middle of the decade. This expansion meant that the Navy needed more shore facilities to support the new ships, which in turn led to more construction work for NAVFAC. Between fiscal years 1982 and 1985, Congress appropriated more than $5 billion for Navy MILCON projects.^[2]

Post–Cold War

At the end of the 1980s, the collapse of the Soviet Union brought an abrupt end to the Cold War and the Navy no longer needed as many ships, planes and bases to support them. From NAVFAC's perspective, one of the most important results was the Base Realignment and Closure Program (BRAC). Between 1988 and 1995, Congress authorized four rounds of selections for base closures and numerous installations were slated for disestablishment. Until the fall of 2004, NAVFAC managed the BRAC Program for the Navy and Marine Corps. By the end of fiscal year 2004, the Command had helped the Navy dispose of 72 unneeded bases and had an inventory of 19 closed installations remaining to be excessed.

In October 2003 an important change occurred in the administration of the naval shore establishment with a new command known as Commander Naval Installations Command, (CNIC) was established. The CNIC would provide uniform program, policy and funding management for all Navy shore installations.^[2]

In 2004, NAVFAC embarked upon a realignment of its organizational structure and its business lines. It made a major move towards improving and standardizing its business processes to help NAVFAC better support the Navy and Marine Corps and other federal clients. The most significant aspect of NAVFAC's transformation was the consolidation of NAVFAC field activities – including engineering field divisions, engineering field activities, officer in charge of construction organizations, public works centers and departments – into regional facilities engineering commands, or FECs. The FECs provide the Navy, Marine Corps, and other clients with a single center for all NAVFAC public works, engineering, and acquisition support to ensure a uniform, enterprise approach to accomplishing its mission.^[2]

On 14 October 2020, the Director, Navy Staff approved renaming NAVFAC to Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, adding Systems to accurately reflect its authority and mission.^[15]

Closures and relocations

A side effect of this realignment was the decommissioning of several NAVFAC components and displacement of hundreds of employees. Notable among the closures was Engineering Field Activity Northeast in Lester, Pennsylvania. The Navy Crane Center, which was also located in Lester, was relocated to Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia. Southern Division in Charleston, South Carolina was decommissioned on September 30, 2007 and the command was realigned in Jacksonville, Florida, to become NAVFAC Southeast. NAVFAC Midwest in North Chicago, Illinois was disestablished on September 30, 2014 and its missions were absorbed by NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic, NAVFAC Southeast and NAVFAC Northwest.^[16]

Administrative Records

NAVFAC archives the administrative records pertaining to the environmental restoration of its naval facilities. As of 2022, these were grouped into 5 US regions, namely Northwest, Hawaii, Southwest, Midatlantic and Southeast.^[17]

Commanders

No.	Portrait	Chief of Civil Engineer	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Command	Chief of Naval Operations
46		VanderLey, DeanRADM Dean VanderLey^[18]	12 August 2022	Incumbent	1 year, 173 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command	Michael M. Gilday Lisa Franchetti
45		Korka, John W.RADM John W. Korka^[19]	19 October 2018	12 August 2022	3 years, 297 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command	John M. Richardson Michael M. Gilday
44		Muilenburg, Bret J.RADM Bret J. Muilenburg^[20]	4 November 2015	19 October 2018	2 years, 349 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	John M. Richardson
43		Gregory, Katherine L.RADM Katherine L. Gregory^[21]	26 October 2012	4 November 2015	3 years, 9 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Jonathan Greenert John M. Richardson
42		Mossey, Christopher J.RADM Christopher J. Mossey^[22]	21 May 2010	26 October 2012	2 years, 158 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Gary Roughead Jonathan Greenert
41		Shear, Wayne “Greg” Jr.RADM Wayne "Greg" Shear	27 October 2006	21 May 2010	3 years, 206 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Michael Mullen Gary Roughead
40		Loose, Michael K.RADM Michael K. Loose	24 October 2003	27 October 2006	3 years, 3 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Vern Clark Michael Mullen
39		Johnson, Michael R.RADM Michael R. Johnson	20 October 2000	24 October 2003	3 years, 4 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Vern Clark
38		Smith, Louis M.RADM Louis M. Smith	25 September 1998	20 October 2000	2 years, 25 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Jay L. Johnson Vern Clark
37		Nash, David J.RADM David J. Nash	15 September 1995	25 September 1998	3 years, 10 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Michael Boorda Jay L. Johnson
36		Buffington, Jack E.RADM Jack E. Buffington	18 September 1992	15 September 1995	2 years, 362 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Frank Kelso Michael Boorda
35		Bottorff, David E.RADM David E. Bottorff	27 October 1989	18 September 1992	2 years, 327 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Carlisle Trost Frank Kelso
34		Montoya, Benjamin F.RADM Benjamin F. Montoya	14 August 1987	27 October 1989	2 years, 74 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Carlisle Trost
33		Jones, John Paul Jr.RADM John Paul Jones Jr.	31 August 1984	14 August 1987	2 years, 348 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	James D. Watkins Carlisle Trost
32		Zobel, William M.RADM William M. Zobel	15 January 1981	31 August 1984	3 years, 229 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Thomas B. Hayward James D. Watkins
31		Iselin, Donald G.RADM Donald G. Iselin	27 May 1977	15 January 1981	3 years, 233 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	James L. Holloway III Thomas B. Hayward
30		Marschall, Albert R.RADM Albert R. Marschall	11 May 1973	27 May 1977	4 years, 16 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Elmo Zumwalt James L. Holloway III
29		Enger, Walter M.RADM Walter M. Enger	29 August 1969	11 May 1973	3 years, 255 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	Thomas Hinman Moorer Elmo Zumwalt
28		Husband, Alexander C.RADM Alexander C. Husband	1 November 1965	29 August 1969	3 years, 301 days	Naval Facilities Engineering Command	David L. McDonald Thomas Hinman Moorer
27		Corradi, PeterRADM Peter Corradi	12 February 1962	31 October 1965	3 years, 261 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	George Whelan Anderson Jr. David L. McDonald
26		Peltier, Eugene J.RADM Eugene J. Peltier	2 December 1957	30 January 1962	4 years, 59 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	Arleigh Burke George Whelan Anderson Jr.
25		Meade, Robert H.RADM Robert H. Meade	8 November 1955	30 November 1957	2 years, 22 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	Arleigh Burke
24		Perry, John R.RADM John R. Perry	3 November 1953	25 September 1955	1 year, 326 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	Robert Carney Arleigh Burke
23		Jelley, Joseph F.RADM Joseph F. Jelley	1 December 1949	3 November 1953	3 years, 337 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	Forrest Sherman Lynde D. McCormick William Fechteler Robert Carney
22		Manning, John J.RADM John J. Manning (1894–1962^[23])	1 December 1945	1 December 1949	4 years, 0 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	Ernest J. King Chester W. Nimitz Louis E. Denfeld Forrest Sherman
21		Moreell, BenRADM Ben Moreell (1892–1978)	1 December 1937	1 December 1945	8 years, 0 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	William D. Leahy Harold Rainsford Stark Ernest J. King
20		Smith, Norman M.RADM Norman M. Smith	23 December 1933	30 November 1937	3 years, 342 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	William Harrison Standley William D. Leahy
19		Parsons, Archibald L.RADM Archibald L. Parsons	23 December 1929	22 December 1933	3 years, 364 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	Charles Frederick Hughes William V. Pratt William Harrison Standley
18		Gregory, Luther E.RADM Luther E. Gregory	20 December 1921	21 December 1929	8 years, 1 day	Bureau of Yards and Docks	Robert Coontz Edward Walter Eberle Charles Frederick Hughes
17		Parks, Charles W.RADM Charles W. Parks	11 January 1918	15 December 1921	3 years, 338 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	William S. Benson Robert Coontz
16		Harris, Frederic R.RADM Frederic R. Harris	21 January 1916	30 November 1917	1 year, 313 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	William S. Benson
15		Stanford, Homer R.RADM Homer R. Stanford	14 January 1912	13 January 1916	3 years, 364 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	Charles E. Vreeland Bradley A. Fiske William S. Benson
14		Hollyday, Richard C.RADM Richard C. Hollyday	26 March 1907	13 January 1912	4 years, 293 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks	Richard Wainwright Charles E. Vreeland
13		Rousseau, Harry H.RADM Harry H. Rousseau	6 January 1907	25 March 1907	78 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks
12		Endicott, Mordecai T.RADM Mordecai T. Endicott	4 April 1898	5 January 1907	8 years, 276 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks
11		Matthews, Edmund O.CDRE Edmund O. Matthews	21 March 1894	16 March 1898	3 years, 360 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks
10		Farquhar, Norman H.CDRE Norman H. Farquhar	6 March 1890	6 March 1894	4 years, 0 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks
9		White, George D.CDRE George D. White	2 April 1889	27 February 1890	331 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks
8		Harmony, David B.CDRE David B. Harmony	27 March 1885	2 April 1889	4 years, 6 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks
7		Nichols, Edward T.CDRE Edward T. Nichols	4 June 1881	1 March 1885	3 years, 270 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks
6		Law, Richard L.CDRE Richard L. Law	1 July 1878	4 June 1881	2 years, 338 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks
5		Howell, John CummingsCDRE John C. Howell	21 September 1874	1 July 1878	3 years, 283 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks
4		Rodgers, Christopher Raymond PerryCDRE Christopher R. P. Rodgers	1 October 1871	21 September 1874	2 years, 355 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks
3		Ammen, DanielCAPT Daniel Ammen	1 May 1869	1 October 1871	2 years, 153 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks
2		Smith, JosephCAPT Joseph Smith	25 May 1846	1 May 1869	22 years, 341 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks
1		Warrington, LewisCAPT Lewis Warrington	31 August 1842	25 May 1846	3 years, 267 days	Bureau of Yards and Docks

See also

U.S. Armed Forces systems commands

• Army Materiel Command
• Marine Corps Systems Command
• United States Navy systems commands
  • Naval Sea Systems Command
  • Naval Air Systems Command
  • Naval Information Warfare Systems Command
  • Naval Supply Systems Command
• Air Force Materiel Command
• Space Systems Command

References

1. Christopher, Dunne. "NAVFAC Holds Change of Command". Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
2. "A Brief History of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command" (PDF). NAVFAC. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
3. "About the Naval Facilities Engineering Command". NAVFAC. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
4. "Business Line Brochures". NAVFAC. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
5. "Asset Management". NAVFAC. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
6. "Capital Improvements". NAVFAC. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
7. "Environmental". NAVFAC. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
8. "Expeditionary". NAVFAC. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
9. "Public Works". NAVFAC. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
10. "Office of Small Business Programs". www.navfac.navy.mil. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
11. "Safety-Mishap Prevention and Hazard Abatement". www.navfac.navy.mil. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
12. "Real Estate". www.navfac.navy.mil. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
13. "Contingency Engineering". NAVFAC. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
14. About the Naval Facilities Engineering Command. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
15. "Renaming of Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command and Subordinate Commands to Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command and Subordinate Commands" (PDF).
16. NAVFAC Midwest Holds Disestablishment Ceremony. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
17. "Environmental Restoration". www.navfac.navy.mil. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
18. Navy Biography: Dean VanderLey
19. Navy Biography: John W. Korka
20. Navy Biography: Bret J. Muilenburg
21. Navy Biography: Katherine L. Gregory
22. Navy Biography: Christopher J. Mossey
23. "Admiral John J. Manning Dead; Led the Seabees at Normandy".

External links

• NAVFAC official website