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NEPMU 7 Ends Service After Half a Century

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS060927-13
Release Date: 9/27/2006 12:31:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class (AW) Brian A. Goyak, Naval Air Station Sigonella Public Affairs

SIGONELLA, Sicily (NNS) -- Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit (NEPMU)7 held its disestablishment ceremony Sept. 22 at the Duomo Conference Center ceremony aboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella.

As part of his remarks to the departing command, Capt. William Stover, Naval Environmental Health Center commanding officer, discussed the reasons behind the unit's disestablishment.

"In accordance with Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) 2005 guidance, the closure of NEPMU 7 will allow for greater efficiencies and increased readiness through regional consolidation of services," he said. "Manpower assets will be used to support current and future forward deployed preventative medicine units deployments in support of the warfighter."

In NEPMU 7's absence, services such as malaria prevention and travel clinic will be taken over by the Flight Line Clinic. Other responsibilities, like port assessments, will be absorbed by NEPMU 2 of Norfolk, Va.

Since its inception 50 years ago, NEPMU 7 has provided humanitarian and disaster relief throughout the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. From giving expert advice on an outbreak of meningococcal meningitis in Palermo to contributing to the improvements of municipal water systems in Ethiopia, NEPMU 7 has consistently met the challenges that have come their way.

First established as Navy Preventive Medicine 7 in 1956 and commissioned May 2, 1957, the command received its current designation of NEPMU 7 in 1971. The unit provided public health services to 6th Fleet and was originally homeported at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Naples and relocated to NAS Sigonella in 1995.

NEPMU 7's more recent accomplishments include the use of Forward Deployed Preventive Medical Units (FDPMU) in both Desert Shield/Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cmdr. David Claborn, NEPMU 7 officer in charge (acting), cited the command involvement in the earthquake relief effort in October of 2005 as a highlight of the command's long history.

Some members of NEPMU 7, like Chief Hospital Corpsman Lawrence Kendall, were reluctant to go.

"My family and I really loved it here," he said. "It's a small community so you get to know a lot of different people. We really loved it here and are sad to go."