Maritime Civil Affairs Sailors Dig Up Past to Learn Lessons For Future Missions
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS081202-03
Release Date: 12/2/2008 10:59:00 AM
By Lt. Joshua Frey, Maritime Civil Affairs Squadron 1 Public Affairs
IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (NNS) -- To help prepare for eventual deployments, Sailors from Maritime Civil Affairs Squadron (MCAS) 1 completed training Nov. 20 on the Works Progress Administration (WPA) programs conducted in San Diego during the 1930s.
During the last month, Sailors from various maritime civil affairs teams (MCATs) learned about federally-funded civic assistance projects conducted by the WPA as a recovery effort during the Great Depression. By creating and upgrading public parks, roads, monuments and buildings, the WPA helped create jobs and drastically decrease unemployment across the United States.
As part of their training, MCAS-1 personnel visited San Diego State University (SDSU) for a tour led by Anthropology Chairperson, Dr. Seth Mallios.
"We set up the tour to help us get ideas from a civic assistance mission that took place in our own country in the not-too-distant past," said Maritime Civil Affairs Team Leader Lt.j.g. Gabriel Gomez, a civil engineering corps officer.
In 2006, Mallios, an archaeologist, uncovered a series of previously unknown murals at SDSU that were created by local artists working for the WPA in the 1930s. The murals were discovered during upgrades to older buildings at SDSU, many of which were built by the WPA, including the original Aztec Football Stadium.
"The New Deal is very important in American history because it enabled the country to recover from the greatest economic disaster it had ever faced," said Mallios. "The structures in San Diego and at San Diego State University are physical reminders how the country recovered."
For more news from Maritime Civil Affairs Squadron 1, visit www.navy.mil/local/necc.
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