Not surprised at all. Normally our ship gets a supplement at the end of the quarter, but we haven't received it the last few times. So we're running around doing intensive maintence in that (since the '90s or so) would have been the job of civilian shipyrad workers.Navy Times
July 12, 2004
Pg. 8
The Cost Of War
$300M shore cuts could curtail secondary services at your base
By William H. McMichael, Times staff writer
Calling someone in Norfolk? Don’t plan on leaving a voice message if they’re not in.
Voice mail is a convenience that has come to feel nearly automatic. But eliminating nearly all voice mail privileges will help the Navy’s Mid-Atlantic Region meet a mandated cut of $24.8 million in operations and maintenance funding for the final four months of this fiscal year.
That money represents the region’s share of $300 million recently sliced from base operating budgets worldwide to, as the Navy put it, “properly support” the global war on terrorism and shoulder other “emergent requirements.”
The spending reductions, which were not ordered by the Defense Department, are “part of our normal mid-fiscal year process,” Navy spokesman Lt. Mike Kafka said. The Navy’s overall budget was not reduced, officials said.
“This is not a budget cut,” said Fred Tillack, business manager for Navy Installations Command, or CNI, which oversees the Navy’s 16 regions. “This is this fiscal year’s reallocation to support the cost of war.”
Kafka also said the cuts were not specifically made to help pay for Summer Pulse ‘04, the Navy’s ongoing demonstration of its ability to send more than six carrier strike groups to sea on 30 days’ notice and another two in the following 60 days. Seven carrier groups are currently underway in various locations around the world.
“There is minimal additional cost associated with Summer Pulse ‘04,” Kafka said.
Of the $300 million, about $199 million was pulled from operations and maintenance, about $78 million was produced by suspending certain repair and demolition projects, and $23 million came from delaying planned facilities maintenance projects such as painting and equipment repair, CNI spokeswoman Rachelle Logan said.
The cuts could have an impact on shore-based operations well beyond the loss of voice mail. According to Kafka, the Navy has reduced port and air operations outside normal working hours. In addition, it has deferred infrastructure safety and structural inspections and what it calls “critical” sustainment, restoration and modernization projects. The Navy also has assumed “increased, but manageable risk” in the areas of force and fire protection — read periodic maintenance on security vehicles — and in environmental compliance, with grounds maintenance being CNI’s example.
The trims were left up to regional commanders with “guidance” from CNI on what areas were to remain fully funded (example: “essential quality of life programs”). Rear Adm. Christopher Weaver “gave regional commanders authority to move resources between programs so that they could best accommodate their operational requirements,” Tillack said.
And at least some of each region’s total spending reduction was covered by money saved through ongoing initiatives to become more efficient. In other words, these savings were “applied” to each region’s “cost of war account,” Logan said.
For instance, in the Southwest Region, the number of government vehicles, cell phones, Blackberry digital pager/memo devices and computers was reduced as a result of the efficiency drive, said spokeswoman Capt. Jacquie Yost. Logan said these reductions helped cover the region’s $25.3 million cut, which fell mostly in the area of freezing facilities sustainment and limiting port and air operations.
Another example of an efficiency trim comes from the Northwest Region, which temporarily shut down the galley July 1 at the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap, Wash. The region made the move because the galley was serving only 80 sailors following the departure of the carrier Abraham Lincoln from the neighboring Bremerton shipyard. Those sailors’ ships all have operational galleys, according to region spokeswoman Cmdr. Karen Sellers.
Otherwise, Northwest officials met their $7 million cut through efforts such as deferring the filling of jobs until the coming fiscal year, trimming spending on certain environmental work and reducing the travel and training budget.
CNI officials could not provide a complete breakdown of the efficiency trims in each region, saying they change too frequently to track at the command’s level.
Overall, the cuts were made to ensure a minimum effect on operations and services, officials say. “We want to ensure quality of service for our sailors,” Kafka said.
At first glance, that wouldn’t be apparent from some of Mid-Atlantic’s reductions, which included the on-base shuttle bus and closing the Pier 26 CPO Club. But both had become little used, officials said. Region spokeswoman Beth Baker said a business cost analysis on the shuttle bus system concluded that each rider cost the government $31. The Pier 26 club, she said, was losing money.
But although officials say no Navy jobs have been lost as a result of the reductions, the belt-tightening is squeezing some of the Navy’s contractors. The Mid-Atlantic Region says it is no longer paying for around-the-clock, on-call commercial tug service — meaning that, for instance, ships about to get underway for training that are delayed because of unforeseen engineering problems could lose the services of the assigned tug and could end up waiting for another tug to become available.
“The customer has to plan accordingly to use them when they are available,” said Baker. “Extra tugs would be made available in emergency situations such as the approach of a hurricane, she said.
And nearby Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base has reduced its reliance on contracted grounds-keepers, filling the gap with sailors and volunteers. The base has put out an open call to the retiree community, asking for cost-free help to perform command self-help construction projects, crossing guard duty at the base chapel and office jobs at the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, the Navy Family Housing Self-Help Center and the Navy College Office.
Base commanding officer Capt. Garrat Cooper also delayed turning on base air conditioners for two weeks beyond the normal date this spring, another cost-saver. “Some people may have been a little bit uncomfortable,” said base spokesman Lamar Raker, “but it wasn’t unbearable.” The base will continue to regulate heating and air conditioning on a seasonal basis as opposed to using a set date, Raker said.
While more trims could be on the horizon, no more are likely through the end of September, when the fiscal year ends. “We have no expectations of that,” Tillack said.
Thank God we supply our own MWR Funds.
