Military

Fort Story

Fort Story is a sub-installation of the US Army Transportation Center and Fort Eusis. Fort Story is located in the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is the Army's Logistics-Over-The-Shore (LOTS) training and test site. Fort Story is the only U.S. Army installation to offer the combined features of beach, deepwater sea anchorage, and natural terrain required for Logistics-Over-The-Shore (LOTS) training. The post is also the Army's only salt water purification training site for training of reverse osmosis water purification units. In addition to the active Army units, also stationed at Fort Story are Army Reserve units, US Navy active and Reserve units, and a USMC section.

Fort Story is 1,451 acres of sandy trails, cypress swamps, grassy dunes and soft and hard sand beaches. The beaches are wide, gently sloped and washed by the waters of the Chesapeake Bay on one side and get pounded by the surf of the Atlantic Ocean on the other.

Fort Story has partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 11th Transportation Battalion, and the Waff Contracting Company of North Carolina to test a new technology for primary dune erosion control. Fort Story's location on the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean makes it susceptible to erosion, which deposits sediments into the Bay. Since funding was very limited for breakwater construction, this "Geotube" technology, actually placing tubes of sand in the beach, provided a way to test a less expensive technology to protect 2,000 feet of shoreline. Ten Geotubes, installed at the most fragile areas, also allow for American beach grass to be planted on the sand that covers each Geotube, further reducing erosion.

Recent construction has been the completion and opening of a $2.1 million Mini-PX in August 1997. Future construction includes a new $2.15 million Post Chapel with construction to begin FY98. Fort Story has three historical sites which consist of the Cape Henry Memorial Cross marking the location where the Jamestown Settlers first landed, The Old Cape Henry Lighthouse, the first lighthouse authorized and built by the Federal Government, and the Battle off the Virginia Capes monument a statue of Admiral Francoise de Grasse to commemorate the famous sea battle which prevented the British from reaching Yorktown during our War for Independence.

BRAC 2005

In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, DoD would realign Fort Story, VA, by relocating the installation management functions to Commander Naval Mid-Atlantic Region at Naval Station Norfolk, VA.

All installations employed military, civilian, and contractor personnel to perform common functions in support of installation facilities and personnel. All installations executed these functions using similar or near similar processes. Because these installations shared a common boundary with minimal distance between the major facilities or are in near proximity, there was significant opportunity to reduce duplication of efforts with resulting reduction of overall manpower and facilities requirements capable of generating savings, which would be realized by paring unnecessary management personnel and achieving greater efficiencies through economies of scale. Intangible savings would be expected to result from opportunities to consolidate and optimize existing and future service contract requirements. Additional opportunities for savings would also be expected to result from establishment of a single space management authority capable of generating greater overall utilization of facilities and infrastructure. Further savings would be expected to result from opportunities to reduce and correctly size both owned and contracted commercial fleets of base support vehicles and equipment consistent with the size of the combined facilities and supported populations. Regional efficiencies achieved as a result of Service regionalization of installation management would provide additional opportunities for overall savings as the designated installations are consolidated under regional management structures. The quantitative military value score validated by military judgment was the primary basis for determining which installation was designated as the receiving location. Assuming no economic recovery, this recommendation could result in a maximum potential reduction of 546 jobs (238 direct jobs and 306 indirect jobs) over the 2006-2011 period in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area (less than 0.1 percent).