Bahrain Desert Times (500) - July 2023

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT: AN INSIDE LOOK

From NSA Bahrain Public Works Department, Edited by MC3 Karra Brown

The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Public Works Department (PWD) is the cornerstone of the Navy’s shore-based operations. The comprehensive suite of Products and Services delivered by PWD enables the projection of sea power to provide unrivaled support for the warfighter. PWD is always prepared and ready to support the warfighter and our customers

“24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are kind of like the old saying from the post office. ‘Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep us from responding to an emergency.’” Said Philip W. Hammond, the Deputy Public Works Officer.

PWD Bahrain provides shore facilities management, operations maintenance, construction and repair, base operating support services, and environmental management in support of 148 Tenant Commands assigned to Naval Support Activity Bahrain, Isa Air Base, and facilities in the United Arab Emirates.

The PWD is led by CDR Riley Smith, the Public Works Officer and is comprised of approximately 183 personnel, to include approximately 98 Bahraini Grade employees, 62 military personnel, 16 Government Civilian employees, and 6 contractors. The department is organized into four branchs consisting of the Facilities Management Branch (FMD), Facilities Engineering and Acquisition Branch (FEAD), Production Branch, and Environmental Branch (EV).

FMD is responsible for identifying facility requirements, for repairs and renovations, real property assets on the installation including space management, and real estate coordination.

FMD is broken down into three different divisions; Requirements, Asset Management, and Real Estate to ensure facility requirements are executed.

Primary interface between the PWD and supported commands lies within the Requirements branch. Main functions are to facilitate project development along with the Product and Services Work Induction Board.

Requirements supports command interface by operating the Installation Service Desk where customers may call for any facility related issues.

Besides the service desk, the branch is responsible for the building manager

program and validates requirements to enable the execution teams to focus on the appropriate workload. The branch is also responsible for performing facility inspections to ensure facilities are maintained and repaired per Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) and Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) requirements. The branch is also responsible for answering service calls, which can be made 24/7.

The Asset Management branch manages all Class I and Class II property, develops short to long-range plans for the installation, and develops integrated priority lists for many programs such as; military construction, special projects, demolition, and installation appearance. Planners manage the physical space on the installation and work with supported commands when their space requirements change. They also ensure that planned work meets regulations, instructions, master planning and safety requirements through the site approval process. Within the Asset Management Branch, a host-nation planner works with the off-base organizations to ensure the Navy does not infringe upon local laws and regulations. This branch is also responsible for Geospatial Information and Services (mapping) and Real Property Asset accounting.

The FMD’s Real Estate branch is responsible for identifying the rental requirements for land and facilities to support the warfighter mission. This includes facilities in the BANZ warehouse area, NSA I, NSA II, NSA III facilities, and warehouse space in Hidd. As well as space to support the operation mission. Real Estate also provides leasing accommodations for tenant command housing off base.

The FEAD branch is responsible for all design, contracted construction and services, and acquisition planning and contract administration. Within the branch is the Project Management and Engineering Branch (PMEB), Contracting Branch, and the Facility Support Contracts (FSC) Branch.

When a customer submits a request for design work, it is initiated through the PWD work induction system. Once validated it will be assigned to the PMEB branch. Typically, the PMEB handles the majority of the design requirements. These requirements produce a construction contract package that includes an independent government cost estimate, along with full plans and specifications for construction completion. Aside from design packages, the PMEB is responsible for Construction Management of

projects including safety compliance, administration of construction and quality assurance efforts by the government team. Effective construction management includes coordinated oversight of contractor submittals, quality assurance, prospective contract modifications, scheduling and progress payments.

The Contracting Branch performs administrative contracting duties. Once a contract is awarded, the contracting office ensures all contract provisions, Federal Acquisition Regulations, and supplementary requirements are fulfilled. Contract awards are for construction projects, services and repair, and task orders for the base operating support contract.

Planning, procurement, and management of shore installation facility services and base operational support is the primary role of the FSC branch. The branch is responsible for providing technical support for the contracting and oversight of facility support contracts on behalf of the PWO and Contracting Officer to meet the service requirements of NAVFAC’s supported commands. FSC includes such facility services as grounds maintenance, custodial, pest control, integrated solid waste, street sweeping, facility and utility operations and maintenance, and other installation support services. Here at NSA Bahrain the primary contractor performing functions established by FSC is Kellogg, Brown and Root(KBR). KBR is responsible for operating the water treatment plants, maintaining the medium voltage electrical, installation back-up generators, HVAC systems, custodial duties, grounds keeping, and vehicle maintenance.

Sailors, Marines and Civilians interact with PWD Bahrain’s Production Branch personnel more than any other branch within the organization. The Production Branch is responsible for ensuring facilities, utilities, and transportation assets are maintained appropriately. The Facility Sustainment Branch is responsible for all facility maintenance, repairs, alterations, and new construction incidental to maintenance. The branch is also responsible for executing planned maintenance and emergency work. The Utilities Service Branch provides utilities operations and maintenance, billing, assessment of utility systems. Here on NSA Bahrain, this includes the water treatment, wastewater, electricity, and water cooling systems. The Transportation Branch manages an inventory of government vehicles, performs vehicle maintenance, coordinates Government Civilian rentals, and maintains weight handling equipment and heavy equipment.

The Environmental Department has several divisions, which support the installation. Environmental Compliance division is responsible for providing environmental protections services, including hazardous waste management, lab sampling and testing, industrial waste removal, bilge water removal, and other environmental functions. Environmental compliance is also responsible for developing installation-level environmental policies,

U.S. Naval Forces Complete Annual Maritime Exercise with Lebanon

From NAVCENT Public Affairs

Naval forces from Lebanon, the United States and regional partners completed a nine-day maritime exercise ashore and near the coast of Lebanon, July 18.

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) concluded exercise Resolute Union 2023 with counterparts from Egypt, France, Iraq, Jordan and the United Kingdom. This year’s iteration of the annual exercise focused on maritime awareness, operations, command and control, force protection and infrastructure defense.

More 100 international personnel participated, including nearly 20 service members from

New Multinational Task Force Conducts Maritime Training in the Seychelles

Combined Maritime Forces, the world’s largest multinational naval partnership, completed a two-week training mission in the Indian Ocean island nation of the Seychelles, July 14, to enhance operational readiness for 160 participants from five nations.

CMF’s new maritime security training task force, Combined Task Force 154, facilitated Operation Southern Readiness in partnership with the Seychelles Defence Force. More than 50 CMF facilitators from nine nations led training courses on maritime awareness, law, interdiction, search and rescue, unmanned operations and leadership development.

“Operation Southern Readiness has been a fantastic opportunity to learn with our partners in the Seychelles Defence Force,” said Commodore Philip Dennis, commander of United Kingdom Maritime Component Command and deputy commander for CMF. “We are

stronger when we train, operate and work together.”

Personnel receiving the training included participants from Comoros, Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tanzania.

This was CMF’s second iteration of Operation Southern Readiness. The first occurred last September when CMF and the Seychelles conducted similar training on the island, allowing partners to meet face-to-face, form relationships and learn from one another.

“It’s all about building relationships because relationships are the fundamental building blocks for greater collaboration at sea,” Royal Canadian Navy Cmdr. Alexis Dieryckx said last year.

CMF consists of 38 partner-nations whose forces operate in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean. The nations are united in upholding international rules-based order to protect the free flow of commerce, ensure regional

the United States. The NAVCENT cohort included experts on explosive ordnance disposal, civil affairs, maritime security, maritime law, joint planning and amphibious operations.

U.S. personnel solely participated in Resolute Union as observers and trainers this year, enabling LAF partners to carry out training drills as a team and enhance their maritime capabilities in key areas.

“We have conducted Resolute Union many years in the past, but this year the U.S. supported in an observer and trainer capacity,” said Lt. Cmdr. Antoni Wyszynski from U.S. 5th Fleet’s task force for expeditionary combat operations, Task Force 56. “It is good to see how other

partner nations are coming together to support Lebanese forces to develop interoperability and support maritime security.” Resolute Union exercises have fostered collaboration between Lebanese and U.S. armed forces for 23 years. In 2022, 60 U.S. service members conducted drills alongside their LAF counterparts on maritime security operations, mine countermeasures and explosive ordnance disposal.

NAVCENT is headquartered in Manama, Bahrain and includes U.S. forces operating in the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal and Bab al-Mandeb.

maritime security and deter illicit activity by non-state actors.

CMF launched Combined Task Force 154 two months ago to organize multinational maritime training opportunities at locations across the Middle East, enabling more CMF partnernations to participate in training

opportunities without ships or aircraft, particularly during courses taught ashore. The new task force is commanded by a U.S. Navy captain who leads a staff that is augmented by CMF partners during major training events. Another nation will assume command of Combined Task Force 154 in the coming months.

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT: AN INSIDE LOOK

From Page 1

preparing permits or permit applications, negotiating permits and issues with local and country regulators, and providing technical consultation with base entities.

The Environment Planning and Conservation branch ensures planning is conducted for decision makers, and that plans include and execute environmental programs for the management of natural and cultural resources. This branch also provides assurance that any proposed action on the installation incorporates protection of the human environment as well as identifying any potential impacts construction operations may have on the environment.

Another aspect of the environmental program is operating and maintaining the Qualified Recycling Program (QRP). The mission of this program is to minimize the amount of waste discarded in landfills; increase the percentage of water that is recycled; support

green procurement policies; expand the education program with focus on public awareness in support of recycling. Revenues generated from the recycling program may be used by the installation for projects for pollution prevention, energy conservation, alternative-fueled vehicle infrastructure support, occupational safety and health activities, and potentially support MWR activity programs.

The PWD is an essential department that helps maintain mission readiness at all hours of the day. The departments goals for the future include; ensuring Facilities that support the Warfighter and workforce are maintained to mission requirement, provide timely and cost effective transportation and facility support for our customers and to consolidate our footprint to gain efficiency and reduce costs.

“The PWD is the heartbeat of this base.” Said Philip W. Hammond.

France Assumes Command of Multinational Naval Task Force Patrolling Middle East

France assumed command of a multinational naval task force that patrols the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean, during an indoor ceremony at the U.S. Navy base in Bahrain, July 20.

United Kingdom Royal Navy Capt. James Byron turned over command of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 to French Navy Capt. Yannick Bossu. CTF 150 is one of five operational task forces under Combined Maritime Forces, the world’s largest international naval partnership that consists of 38 nations.

CTF 150 conducts maritime security operations in the Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to help ensure freedom of navigation by deterring and disrupting destabilizing maritime activity.

Under Byron’s leadership, forces supporting CTF 150 intercepted $320 million in illegal drugs that included heroin, hashish and methamphetamine. Multinational forces have seized a total estimated value of $1.3 billion in illicit narcotics since 2021.

“When we arrived in Bahrain at the start of January, my team and I promised

to do everything we could to intercept illegal narcotics transiting the maritime routes across the Indian Ocean,” said Byron. “The men and women of [CTF 150] deserve huge credit.”

Byron’s headquarters staff included personnel from Italy, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

CTF 150’s new commander, Bossu, arrives in Bahrain having served in the French Navy for 30 years. He was previously the deputy for current operations at the French Joint Strategic Operations Center.

“It is an honor to assume command of

Medal of Honor Monday: Navy Petty Officer

1st Class Oscar Nelson

When a boiler exploded on Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Oscar Frederick Nelson's gunboat in 1905, he didn't hesitate to act. He pulled three men from the inferno and kept the crisis from potentially endangering people onshore. His efforts earned him the Medal of Honor.

Nelson was born on Nov. 5, 1881, in Denmark to parents Peter and Eliza Nielson. He had two siblings who were also born in Denmark. At some point in the 1890s, the family dropped the "i" in their last name and emigrated to the suburbs of Minneapolis.

According to the Brainerd Daily Dispatch out of Brainerd, Minnesota, Nelson worked in Northern Pacific railway shops in the town before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1899.

On July 21, 1905, Nelson was serving as a machinist's mate 1st class on the USS Bennington, a gunboat that had arrived in San Diego harbor from Honolulu. While the ship was docked, a boiler exploded. Nelson explained

in a 1917 Quad City Times article that out of 22 men in the ship's engine room, he was the only one to survive.

"I was blown back over the steering engines and found myself lying with three men on top of me," Nelson said in the newspaper, which is based out of Davenport, Iowa. "Boiling water was escaping from the steam pipes. The bulkheads were caved in, and I could feel the boat sinking. I was forced to grope my way about [because] the engine room was so full of steam."

After Nelson escaped, he regrouped, then rushed back into the inferno that was the engine room to drag three men out of it. Unfortunately, they didn't survive.

Since the ship was only about 300 feet from shore, Nelson said it was also imperative that he flooded the powder magazines.

"In the magazines were 13 tons of smokeless powder and 10,000 rounds of 6-inch shells of the armor-piercing kind," Nelson said in a 1914 Brainerd Daily

Dispatch article. "Had the contents of the magazine exploded, a great portion of the waterfront of San Diego would have been blown up."

According to the Quad City Times, when Nelson delivered the third man he'd tried to rescue to the upper deck, he was grabbed by attendants from various steamers that came to help. They rushed him to a hospital.

The Bennington sank shortly after that. It was hauled to shore by tugboats for repairs; however, later that year, it was decommissioned and sold for scrap, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command.

The explosion killed 67 of the ship's men and injured 49 others, reports showed.

For his bravery that day, Nelson received the Medal of Honor. It was presented to him on Jan. 6, 1906, by Nicholas Longworth, the son-in-law of President Teddy Roosevelt.

Nelson remained in the service afterward, serving on the torpedo boat destroyer USS Paul

CTF 150 today on behalf of France and pick up the baton from a successful UK team,” said Basso. “My staff – consisting of people from the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Bahrain and France – and I are looking forward to working toward enhancing regional partnerships and countering illegal trafficking in the Indian Ocean.”

Combined Maritime Forces is headquartered in Bahrain with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and U.S. 5th Fleet.

Jones, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He was honorably discharged a few years later.

According to Minnesota's St. Louis County Historical Society, Nelson eventually moved to Duluth, Minnesota, and worked for more than two decades for the Army Corps of Engineers. He retired in 1950.

At some point he married Anna Dahl, and they had a daughter, Beatrice.

Nelson died Sept. 26, 1951, at 69 years of age. He is buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.

Nelson's Medal of Honor can be found in the Depot of the Veterans' Memorial Hall Gallery in Duluth.

439-4520

www.cnic.navy.mil/bahrain

Commanding Officer

Naval Support Activity Bahrain

Capt. Zachariah Aperauch

NSA Bahrain Executive Officer Cmdr. Jimmy Harmon

Public Affairs Officer Chief Editor

Lt. Nicolas Mahone

Deputy Public Affairs Officer Mark C. Mosher

Mass Communication Specialist

1st Class Sean Gallagher

Host Nation Public Affairs Director Ameera Al-Kooheji

The Bahrain Desert Times is an authorized publication primarily for members of the Navy and Marine Corps military services in Bahrain. Its contents do not necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps and do not imply endorsement thereof.

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New MOVIES at the MWR Cinema

Barbie (PG-13) – 1h 54m

Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans. | Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Greta Gerwig, Simu Liu

Oppenheimer (R) – 3h

During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb. Their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witness the world's first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history. | Cast: Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (PG-13) –

2h 34m

Daredevil archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary dial that can change the course of history. Accompanied by his goddaughter, he soon finds himself squaring off against Jürgen Voller, a former Nazi who works for NASA. | Cast: Harrison Ford, Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas

Insidious: The Red Door (PG-13)

– 1h 47m

Josh Lambert heads east to drop his son, Dalton, off at school. However, Dalton's college dream soon becomes a living nightmare when the repressed demons of his past suddenly return to haunt them both. | Cast: Ty Simpkins, Patrick Wilson, Lin Shaye, Rose Byrne

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