The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command will formally establish Officer in Charge of Construction Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (OICC PSNS) during an Aug. 28 ceremony in Keyport, Wash., marking another step in the Navy’s long-term effort to modernize infrastructure at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility.
The new command will oversee contracting and construction for the proposed multimission drydock PSNS & IMF in Bremerton, a centerpiece project within the Navy’s broader shipyard modernization effort.
The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. Aug. 28 at the Naval Undersea Warfare Museum and will be held in conjunction with NAVFAC Northwest’s change of command ceremony. During the event, NAVFAC Pacific commander Omarr Tobias is scheduled to designate Troy Brown as commanding officer of OICC PSNS.
An officer in charge of construction serves as the designated command responsible for executing large-scale military construction and infrastructure programs. In this case, OICC PSNS will serve as the accountable command for delivery of the Navy’s proposed multimission drydock project.
The drydock program falls under the Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) a long-term recapitalization initiative focused on modernizing the Navy’s four public shipyards. The program includes infrastructure upgrades and industrial plant investments intended to expand shipyard capacity and improve operational efficiency across facilities that support maintenance of the Navy’s nuclear-powered fleet.
At Puget Sound, the multimission drydock represents a multi-billion-dollar, multi-decade effort to modernize the shipyard’s waterfront infrastructure. The project is intended to provide the capacity needed to perform depot-level maintenance on Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier carriers in the Pacific Northwest, supporting the Navy’s long-term maintenance, modernization, and sustainment requirements for its nuclear-powered fleet.
The Navy is continuing its review under the National Environmental Policy Act, including completion of an Environmental Impact Statement. The Final EIS and Record of Decision are expected later this year.
