Two and a half years after Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina, military construction projects worth more than a billion dollars are now underway to restore the state’s Marine Corps installations.
Officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking at the 10th Marine Regiment headquarters on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune last week to officially commence a five-year effort to rebuild facilities on the East Coast’s largest Marine Corps base and its two nearby air stations.
“Over the next five years, you will see construction on an epic scale,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Miguel Dieguez, assistant chief of staff for Facilities and Environment, Marine Corps Installations East (MCIEAST) - MCB Camp Lejeune, in a news release.
4 On Thursday April 22, 2021 Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic and Office in Charge of Construction (OICC) Florence participated in a ground breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of a five-year effort to revitalize Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River and MCAS Cherry Point. The ground breaking was held at the soon to be replaced 10th Marine Regiment headquarters which will be the first of many Hurricane Florence related projects.
Capt. Jim Brown, commanding officer, OICC Florence, began the ceremony by delivering a commitment to the installation.
“We need to return it back to what it was, and in the process, make it better, and more lethal than what it was before,” Brown said. “We will endeavor to do that.”
Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David H. Berger and Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Troy E. Black visited Fleet Readiness Center East March 15 to receive updates regarding the support FRCE provides to Marine Corps aviation and the facility’s current status of operations.
Berger and Black toured the facility with FRCE Commanding Officer Capt. Mark E. Nieto and Executive Director Mark Meno. The itinerary focused on the V-22 Osprey, F-35 Lightning II and future plans for F-35 maintenance and capabilities at FRCE.
“I was proud to welcome General Berger and Sergeant Major Black to FRCE and familiarize them with the vital work we’re doing to support Marine Corps aviation,” Nieto said. “This visit gave us an excellent opportunity to provide him with a firsthand look at how FRCE operations contribute to Marine Corps readiness and explain what we need to be successful, now and in the future.”
DoD reports more than 250,000 COVID-19 cases
DoD COVID-19 fatality rate is 0.12%
The U.S. military’s overarching objective is clear: defeat the enemy. For the past 12 months, COVID-19 has been an enemy.
On March 12, 2020, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune recorded its first case of the virus when a dependent tested positive while three Marines were self quarantining after returning from overseas. Within a matter of days, schools on base closed and the base hospital set up two screening sites and a phone line to help curtail community spread.
One year later, the fight continues against COVID-19.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Julian D. Alford, commanding general, Marine Corps Installations East - MCB Camp Lejeune, says the base’s commitment to readiness, training, health and safety has not waivered over the past year.
By JOHN STATON | Star-News, Wilmington, N.C. | Published: February 25, 2021 WILMINGTON, N.C. (Tribune News Service) As it turns out, humans aren t the only ones who ve been experiencing quarantine lately. In January, over at the headquarters for Canines for Service, the nonprofit Wilmington group that trains dogs and places them with disabled veterans, there was a big, friendly boy named Archer who barked and sniffed at the outstretched hands of a couple of masked visitors. Archer, a shaggy Great Pyrenees with a striking coat flecked with grays, blacks and browns, was a new arrival at Canines for Service (CFS), and as such was in his own cage, quarantined a room over (a precaution against kennel cough and other such ailments) from a half-dozen dogs in training who were also barking excitedly.