NAPLES, Italy (NNS) -- Rear Adm. Dean VanderLey Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic and Fleet Civil Engineer, U.S. Fleet Forces Command visited three locations across NAVFAC Europe Africa Central (EURAFCENT) from December 4th to December 10th.
“The thing that impressed me is how connected NAVFAC EURAFCENT is to the Fleet,” said VanderLey. “One of the challenges we have at NAVFAC is making the connection between what we do and the mission of the Navy.”
NAVFAC EURAFCENT covers both 5th and 6th U.S. Fleet of Operations which includes 37% of the World’s Population. They coordinate between three Combatant Commands to ensure the Fleet and Warfighter are ready at a moment’s notice.
"At the base in Capodichino, we provide potable water for the entire base with the option for our service members to fill their portable containers," said Cmdr. Russell Pile, Public Works Officer at Naval Support Activity Naples. "We also provide cooling water for critical computer room air conditioning units. Additionally, we are working to maximize this base's readiness and energy resiliency through several energy conservation measures including the construction of a co-generation plant which will provide electricity to the base and heating and cooling water for our critical infrastructure."
These contracts and projects can take years to transform from ideas to sketches to completed construction. Through these steps there are a variety of positions at NAVFAC that contribute to their success.
“ACQ (Acquisitions) awards contracts in support of all business lines in eight countries as well as 17 countries in support of EXBL (Expeditionary Business Lines),” said Samantha Darella, Division Director in the Acquisition Support Line at NAVFAC EURAFCENT. On a weekly basis, “It is not unusual to coordinate contractual issues with all of our nine field offices including Italy, Spain, Bahrain, Djibouti, Greece, Poland and Romania.”
In this high-demand area of responsibility, NAVFAC must be prepared to immediately secure a crane on location because of an operational mission that may have occurred overnight, summarized Darella. Also, the contracting officer must know and understand Operational Plans, so NAVFAC EURAFCENT is ready when they are needed.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to not only live in a beautiful place like Italy, but also to be such an important key part of the mission,” said VanderLey. “NAVFAC EURAFCENT is highly dependent on bringing NAVFAC professionals from across our stateside FECs (Facility Engineering Commands) to fill the jobs out here.”
NAVFAC EURAFCENT executed more than a $1 billion in fiscal year 2019 in construction, professional engineering and facilities services for the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force and NATO forces.