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)
Founded1966 (1966)
Allegiance United States of America
Branch United States Navy
TypeSYSCOM
Garrison/HQWashington Navy Yard, Washington D.C., U.S.
Websitewww.navfac.navy.mil
Commanders
Chief of Civil EngineersRADM Dean VanderLey, CEC, USN
Executive DirectorJennifer LaTorre
Deputy CommanderRADM Troy M. McClelland, CEC, USN
Force Master ChiefLawrence 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

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

NAVFAC Pacific in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

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 EngineerTook officeLeft officeTime in officeCommandChief of Naval Operations
46
Dean VanderLey
VanderLey, DeanRADM
Dean VanderLey[19]
12 August 2022Incumbent1 year, 148 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command
Michael M. Gilday
Lisa Franchetti
45
John W. Korka
Korka, John W.RADM
John W. Korka[21]
19 October 201812 August 20223 years, 297 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command
John M. Richardson
Michael M. Gilday
44
Bret J. Muilenburg
Muilenburg, Bret J.RADM
Bret J. Muilenburg[23]
4 November 201519 October 20182 years, 349 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
John M. Richardson
43
Katherine L. Gregory
Gregory, Katherine L.RADM
Katherine L. Gregory[25]
26 October 20124 November 20153 years, 9 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Jonathan Greenert
John M. Richardson
42
Christopher J. Mossey
Mossey, Christopher J.RADM
Christopher J. Mossey[27]
21 May 201026 October 20122 years, 158 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Gary Roughead
Jonathan Greenert
41
Wayne "Greg" Shear
Shear, Wayne “Greg” Jr.RADM
Wayne "Greg" Shear
27 October 200621 May 20103 years, 206 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Michael Mullen
Gary Roughead
40
Michael K. Loose
Loose, Michael K.RADM
Michael K. Loose
24 October 200327 October 20063 years, 3 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Vern Clark
Michael Mullen
39
Michael R. Johnson
Johnson, Michael R.RADM
Michael R. Johnson
20 October 200024 October 20033 years, 4 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Vern Clark
38
Louis M. Smith
Smith, Louis M.RADM
Louis M. Smith
25 September 199820 October 20002 years, 25 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Jay L. Johnson
Vern Clark
37
David J. Nash
Nash, David J.RADM
David J. Nash
15 September 199525 September 19983 years, 10 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Michael Boorda
Jay L. Johnson
36
Jack E. Buffington
Buffington, Jack E.RADM
Jack E. Buffington
18 September 199215 September 19952 years, 362 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Frank Kelso
Michael Boorda
35
David E. Bottorff
Bottorff, David E.RADM
David E. Bottorff
27 October 198918 September 19922 years, 327 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Carlisle Trost
Frank Kelso
34
Benjamin F. Montoya
Montoya, Benjamin F.RADM
Benjamin F. Montoya
14 August 198727 October 19892 years, 74 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Carlisle Trost
33
John Paul Jones Jr.
Jones, John Paul Jr.RADM
John Paul Jones Jr.
31 August 198414 August 19872 years, 348 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
James D. Watkins
Carlisle Trost
32
William M. Zobel
Zobel, William M.RADM
William M. Zobel
15 January 198131 August 19843 years, 229 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Thomas B. Hayward
James D. Watkins
31
Donald G. Iselin
Iselin, Donald G.RADM
Donald G. Iselin
27 May 197715 January 19813 years, 233 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
James L. Holloway III
Thomas B. Hayward
30
Albert R. Marschall
Marschall, Albert R.RADM
Albert R. Marschall
11 May 197327 May 19774 years, 16 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Elmo Zumwalt
James L. Holloway III
29
Walter M. Enger
Enger, Walter M.RADM
Walter M. Enger
29 August 196911 May 19733 years, 255 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Thomas Hinman Moorer
Elmo Zumwalt
28
Alexander C. Husband
Husband, Alexander C.RADM
Alexander C. Husband
1 November 196529 August 19693 years, 301 days
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
David L. McDonald
Thomas Hinman Moorer
27
Peter Corradi
Corradi, PeterRADM
Peter Corradi
12 February 196231 October 19653 years, 261 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
George Whelan Anderson Jr.
David L. McDonald
26
Eugene J. Peltier
Peltier, Eugene J.RADM
Eugene J. Peltier
2 December 195730 January 19624 years, 59 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
Arleigh Burke
George Whelan Anderson Jr.
25
Robert H. Meade
Meade, Robert H.RADM
Robert H. Meade
8 November 195530 November 19572 years, 22 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
Arleigh Burke
24
John R. Perry
Perry, John R.RADM
John R. Perry
3 November 195325 September 19551 year, 326 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
Robert Carney
Arleigh Burke
23
Joseph F. Jelley
Jelley, Joseph F.RADM
Joseph F. Jelley
1 December 19493 November 19533 years, 337 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
Forrest Sherman
Lynde D. McCormick
William Fechteler
Robert Carney
22
John J. Manning
Manning, John J.RADM
John J. Manning
(1894–1962[28])
1 December 19451 December 19494 years, 0 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
Ernest J. King
Chester W. Nimitz
Louis E. Denfeld
Forrest Sherman
21
Ben Moreell
Moreell, BenRADM
Ben Moreell
(1892–1978)
1 December 19371 December 19458 years, 0 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
William D. Leahy
Harold Rainsford Stark
Ernest J. King
20
Norman M. Smith
Smith, Norman M.RADM
Norman M. Smith
23 December 193330 November 19373 years, 342 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
William Harrison Standley
William D. Leahy
19
Archibald L. Parsons
Parsons, Archibald L.RADM
Archibald L. Parsons
23 December 192922 December 19333 years, 364 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
Charles Frederick Hughes
William V. Pratt
William Harrison Standley
18
Luther E. Gregory
Gregory, Luther E.RADM
Luther E. Gregory
20 December 192121 December 19298 years, 1 day
Bureau of Yards and Docks
Robert Coontz
Edward Walter Eberle
Charles Frederick Hughes
17
Charles W. Parks
Parks, Charles W.RADM
Charles W. Parks
11 January 191815 December 19213 years, 338 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
William S. Benson
Robert Coontz
16
Frederic R. Harris
Harris, Frederic R.RADM
Frederic R. Harris
21 January 191630 November 19171 year, 313 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
William S. Benson
15
Homer R. Stanford
Stanford, Homer R.RADM
Homer R. Stanford
14 January 191213 January 19163 years, 364 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
Charles E. Vreeland
Bradley A. Fiske
William S. Benson
14
Richard C. Hollyday
Hollyday, Richard C.RADM
Richard C. Hollyday
26 March 190713 January 19124 years, 293 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
Richard Wainwright
Charles E. Vreeland
13
Harry H. Rousseau
Rousseau, Harry H.RADM
Harry H. Rousseau
6 January 190725 March 190778 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
12
Mordecai T. Endicott
Endicott, Mordecai T.RADM
Mordecai T. Endicott
4 April 18985 January 19078 years, 276 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
11
Edmund O. Matthews
Matthews, Edmund O.CDRE
Edmund O. Matthews
21 March 189416 March 18983 years, 360 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
10
Norman H. Farquhar
Farquhar, Norman H.CDRE
Norman H. Farquhar
6 March 18906 March 18944 years, 0 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
9
George D. White
White, George D.CDRE
George D. White
2 April 188927 February 1890331 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
8
David B. Harmony
Harmony, David B.CDRE
David B. Harmony
27 March 18852 April 18894 years, 6 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
7
Edward T. Nichols
Nichols, Edward T.CDRE
Edward T. Nichols
4 June 18811 March 18853 years, 270 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
6
Richard L. Law
Law, Richard L.CDRE
Richard L. Law
1 July 18784 June 18812 years, 338 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
5
John C. Howell
Howell, John CummingsCDRE
John C. Howell
21 September 18741 July 18783 years, 283 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
4
Christopher R. P. Rodgers
Rodgers, Christopher Raymond PerryCDRE
Christopher R. P. Rodgers
1 October 187121 September 18742 years, 355 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
3
Daniel Ammen
Ammen, DanielCAPT
Daniel Ammen
1 May 18691 October 18712 years, 153 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
2
Joseph Smith
Smith, JosephCAPT
Joseph Smith
25 May 18461 May 186922 years, 341 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks
1
Lewis Warrington
Warrington, LewisCAPT
Lewis Warrington
31 August 184225 May 18463 years, 267 days
Bureau of Yards and Docks

See also

U.S. Armed Forces systems commands

References

  1. Christopher, Dunne. "NAVFAC Holds Change of Command". Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "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: Dean VanderLey
  20. Navy Biography: John W. Korka
  21. Navy Biography: John W. Korka
  22. Navy Biography: Bret J. Muilenburg
  23. Navy Biography: Bret J. Muilenburg
  24. Navy Biography: Katherine L. Gregory
  25. Navy Biography: Katherine L. Gregory
  26. Navy Biography: Christopher J. Mossey
  27. Navy Biography: Christopher J. Mossey
  28. "Admiral John J. Manning Dead; Led the Seabees at Normandy".
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