Scott Dorney, executive director of the North Carolina Military Busi-
ness Center (left) moderated a panel discussion of NAVFAC Mid-At-
lantic capital improvements and acquisition professionals led by
Capt. Richard Hayes, Commanding Officer (second from right). The
panel discussion outlined the Navy’s plans to restore Marine Corps
Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS)
Cherry Point, in the wake of Hurricane Florence. The panel discus-
sion was part of NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic’s Hurricane Florence Recov-
ery industry day held in Charlotte, on Aug. 20. (US Navy photo)
The work required on the bases is complex and ex-
pensive, and creates special challenges for the Marine
Corps and Navy team tasked with the restoration, ac-
cording to Col. Nicholas Davis, Chief of Staff for Facili-
ties and Environment, Marine Corps Installations – East.
“You don’t want an infantryman’s answer (to this
problem), because I’ll tell you we can do it with blue
tarps and a shovel,” said Davis in his remarks. “That’s
how we live forward. But we shouldn’t make our fami-
lies live that way and we shouldn’t make our forces who
are training to go back into the fight live that way. This is
really important and we have to get it right. We don’t get
a second chance.”
The magnitude of the restoration work extends far
beyond the levels typically managed by NAVFAC Mid-At-
lantic, explained Capt. Richard Hayes, commanding offi-
cer, NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic.
“For rough scale, NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic, in 2017, the
year before Hurricane Florence, did $2.2 billion worth of
construction across the entire Mid-Atlantic area of oper-
ations,” said Hayes. “When one of your customers tells
you he’s going to go get $2.1 billion (to support the MIL-
CON projects), you tend to say ‘yeah, sure. I’m not
going to worry about that just yet.’ Then here comes the
email that says ‘we got it!’”
“Now I get with my team and say ‘let’s really sharpen
the pencil,’” said Hayes.
Hayes stated that NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic’s goal for the
industry day was to explain their strategy to carry out
the Replace phase, which includes the design and con-
struction of 31 different construction projects valued at
$1.7 billion.
Hayes pointed out that more than $700 million has al-
ready been committed to projects, primarily for build-
ings requiring maintenance, major repairs, and small or
minor construction, with another $200 million more by
the end of September 2019.
NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic Capital Improvements and
Contracting experts outlined the scope of work antici-
pated and took on board questions, setting the stage
for industry’s expertise to further refine and shape the
work ahead.
Many of the companies attending the industry day
have been involved in work at MCB Camp Lejeune and
MCAS Cherry Point since the early days of storm recov-
ery. Hayes made a direct appeal to industry attendees to
work closely with their military partners to provide rec-
ommendations for process improvements in support of
the ambitious construction program.
“We want your feedback on how we can execute the
MILCON program in FY20. This is a departure from our
typical way of doing business, but we are committed to
making it a success for our warfighter, the Marine Corps.”
The North Carolina Construction News — AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019 — 7