The Voice for Kitsap County’s Veterans, Active-Duty Personnel,
and their Families
Veterans Life
KitsapVeteransLife.com
January 2016
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Forecast: Naval Base Kitsap
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Forecast: Local economy
What to expect in 2016 NAVAL BASE KITSAP
125 years of Navy presence in Kitsap By CAPT. THOMAS ZWOLFER NAVAL BASE KITSAP
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his new year marks the 125th anniversary of the U.S. Navy’s arrival in Kitsap County. During that time, the community has made our nation’s uniformed personnel feel at home and the military has been the area’s major economic engine. Naval Base Kitsap (NBK) is now the Navy’s thirdlargest installation, housing 70 tenant commands that together employ 15,000 military personnel, 17,000 civilian employees and more than 7,000 contractors, along with supporting 25,000 retirees. This coming year we’ll see some changes that will have significant benefit to the community and others that may not be visible to the public but will better support the Fleet, Fighter and Family. The Navy recently announced that USS Nimitz will call Kitsap home through 2019. The
The Navy recently announced that USS Nimitz will call Kitsap home through 2019. The crew and their families received a warm welcome when they arrived for maintenance at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility in January 2015. Pete O’Cain / Staff photo crew and their families received a warm welcome when they arrived for maintenance at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF) in 2015 and the community appears to be equally excited that the ship will remain here for the next few years. Work on the Nimitz and other vital projects will keep PSNS & IMF humming at a steady pace for years to come. The command’s services have been in such high demand that employment levels are at their highest level since
World War II. PSNS & IMF will also see the completion of seismic renovations to the fire station and machine shop. These efforts are among several Navy construction projects spearheaded by Naval Facilities Engineering Commander Northwest (NAVFAC). Explosives Handling Wharf 2 (EHW2) is the largest, which is also currently the nation’s largest military construction project, and will be completed in 2016. Because of the workload, NAVFAC sees an uptick in hiring anticipating about
150 vacancies in the coming months. Positions range from laborer to public works supervisor and from work control assistants to facilities management and facilities services. Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport also anticipates hiring a significant number of employees this year, particularly engineers and cyber experts. Many commands post job vacancy information on their Facebook pages, but information about all federal career opportunities can be found at www.usajobs.gov.
At NBK, our mission of supporting the Fleet, Fighter and Family by providing exceptional service gives us an impetus to creatively meet that mission. We even look out for our youngest clients. For example, Fleet and Family Support Center’s popular Exceptional Family Member Program will see an increase in the number of family-friendly events in 2016. Families will be pleased that the Child and Youth Program is expanding the “Start Smart” sports program for young children
where children develop the basic motor skills necessary for organized sports. The Navy Exchange at Bangor celebrated the opening of the package store last month and now the focus shifts to NBK Bremerton, with a $2.7 million store upgrade. This encompasses relocating the barber and beauty shop to the main store and major upgrades throughout the building. Quality of life factors into everything NBK does, so the Bremerton Recreation Center is also See NAVY, Page 2