• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Training is Big Business at NCBC Gulfport

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS081129-05
Release Date: 11/29/2008 1:12:00 PM

From Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast Public Affairs

GULFPORT, Miss. (NNS) -- Training is big business at Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) Gulfport; whether it is a training facility or an open field of green space, it is essential.

As one of NCBC's primary missions, training the Seabees and Sailors of the five Naval Mobile Construction Battalions on board, two Naval Construction Regiments, and hundreds of mobilizing Reservists is a priority and brings many challenges to the Officer in Charge of Construction (OICC) Katrina.

OICC Katrina has their work cut out for them with major damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, then Gustav, and now the Navy's new requirement to reduce its footprint.

"Construction becomes a great challenge when much of the base footprint is occupied with new construction and contractor lay-down areas," said Jerry Davis, construction manager for OICC Katrina. "This will get better as more new facilities are opened and the older facilities can be demolished."

Next on the list of completed construction projects is the new training hall which is scheduled for completion the end of January 2009.

The facility will be 23,960 square-foot and will have of a 600-seat auditorium/theater and a reception area for formal ceremonies. Artifacts from the Seabee Museum will be displayed, and the Heritage Store will be located in this building. The auditorium will be used for battalion-level briefings and deployment staging, as well as for Naval Construction Training Center (NCTC) graduation and formal retirement ceremonies.

In addition, the auditorium will also function as the MWR movie theater. The reception area serves as the lobby for the auditorium and will have a snack bar, which supports catered foods for reception events and will serve as a concession-type snack bar for movies.

"The biggest challenge we face today was started by Hurricane Katrina, but exacerbated by Hurricane Gustav this year," said Davis. The storms brought many construction project requirements to Gulfport that are currently going on at one time - at one location.

In order to allow simultaneous construction of both the new training hall and Navy Exchange, the Navy agreed to allow demolition of the old Smith Memorial Theater (new Navy Exchange site) before the completion of the training hall.

In the meantime, the installation of the inflatable gym (bubble) allowed exercise equipment to be moved out of the gymnasium which was converted into an auditorium.

Adding to the already busy construction schedule, Hurricane Gustav put a large tear down the middle of the "Bubble" so all the equipment was moved back into the gymnasium. "Through PWD (Public Works Department) and Supply department's partnership, we have been able to mitigate this additional space shortfall by converting Warehouse 323 into a movie theater," said Davis.

The 20th Seabee Readiness Group uses "green space" for training. Green space is a grassy field or open area allowing a place for temporary use such as space to setup tents for a command post exercise. NCTC also uses "green space" to train Seabees on chemical, biological, radiation response and decontamination, or disaster recovery training.

While all missions are fully operational during construction, the Seabees will enjoy dedicated training areas instead of scheduling concerns once all of the work is completed.

For more news from Naval Facilities Engineering Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/navfachq/.