SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific Completes Restoration of Millington Emergency Operation Center

Courtesy Photo | Navy Capt. Doug McGowan, NSA Mid-South commanding officer (center) and the SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific restoration team cut the ceremonial ribbon at the new Emergency Operation Center, Jan. 28.  

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

01.28.2011

Courtesy Story

Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR)

SAN DIEGO – SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific performed on-site leadership and demonstrated technical expertise restoring the Naval Support Activity Mid-South Millington Emergency Management Facility/Emergency Operation Center that was damaged in a major flood.

Faced with myriad industrial, technical and coordination challenges, SSC Pacific Security Systems Branch employees Mike Melechinsky and Dave Lanphear restored a once mud-filled building and transformed it into a state of the art command and control facility. Working six days a week up to 16 hour days, the team of government and contracted employees completed the project 47 days ahead of schedule and $67,000 under budget.

Millington is home to the Naval Support Activity Mid-South naval station, one of the largest employers in Tennessee with approximately 6,000 military, civilian and contractor employees on 1,950 acres. Millington Navy Base hosts many tenant organizations, notably the Bureau of Naval Personnel.

The entire Millington region was flooded, May 2, 2010 after receiving 12 inches of rain in a two-day period When a nearby levee broke, an estimated 1,500 people were forced to evacuate their homes, 146 of those people were residents of the Millington base. At the EMF / EOC building, flood waters entered the facility to a level of four feet, nearly destroying the building and ruining the interior spaces. The effects of the floods left the entire region without 911 emergency dispatch capabilities and without an emergency operation center for leadership to coordinate synchronized responses.

Due to the emergent requirement to restore capabilities to the EMF/ EOC in the quickest possible means, SSC Pacific’s Security Systems Branch was contacted due to prior successful work at the Great Lakes Regional EOC installation under a compressed schedule requirement. Naval Facilities Command construction teams went before the SSC Pacific project team to restore the exterior building, but the entire interior and facility support systems were heavily damaged and all residual conduit and wiring was cut four feet from the floor. In August 2010, SSC Pacific’s Dave Lanphear walked into a nearly gutted building and began the survey effort.

Project leads Lanphear and Melechinsky spearheaded all aspects of the restoration effort. During the planning and estimating phase, they presented the emergency management officer options to expand the command and control capabilities given the current conditions, which required starting from scratch and rebuilding the entire interior. Approval was given for the expansion plan with a completion deadline of mid-March 2011. The SSC Pacific team gained Safety Plan approval in three days vice six weeks by collaborating closely with the regional safety manager and professionally preparing all required documentation. The Accident Prevention, Environmental Protection and Lead Abatement Plans were additionally granted accelerated approval due to the team’s exceptional preparation of the plan packages and working in partnership with local approving authorities.

The team started the physical labor Nov. 15, 2010 and began tearing down walls and rebuilding them for the expansion plans. Additional air conditioning units, expanded fire suppression systems, video distribution systems and alarms systems were installed. New conduits, fiber and copper cabling as well as a new electrical infrastructure were required. Once the interior spaces were properly prepared, installation of the expanded command and contril sensor and surveillance systems went seamlessly.

At the ribbon cutting ceremony Jan. 28, Capt. Doug McGowen, NSA Mid-South commanding officer, praised the SSC Pacific team for its outstanding on-site project management skills.

• Date Taken: 01.28.2011
• Date Posted: 03.22.2011 14:48
• Story ID: 67549
• Location: SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US