Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Emilia Hilliard | 201014-N-HH853-1014 BANGOR, Wash. (Oct. 14, 2020) – Jason Powell, Naval Base Kitsap...... read more read more
Perch - Pickerel unaccompanied housing (UH) hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to signify the conversion completion into UH on Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor Oct. 14.
The conversion increased billeting capacity and solved a housing shortage for unaccompanied military assigned to submarine units on Bangor.
"The opening of the Perch Pickerel community is a great quality of life improvement for our junior service members on board Naval Base Kitsap," said Capt. Rich Rhinehart, Naval Base Kitsap commanding officer. "The addition of 501 spaces will allow our submarine crews to maintain unit integrity vice being spread across multiple locations. It also provides the opportunity for our unaccompanied housing Sailors to enjoy apartment-style living here on Naval Base Kitsap."
Marine Corps Security Force Battalion, Bangor (MCSFBN) were also separated due to the shortage and housed on three NBK Annexes (Bangor, Bremerton, and Keyport). Perch - Pickerel has 501 beds and 168 units in 24 buildings allowing unit cohesion through consolidation into one main area for the submarine commands, therefore freeing the barracks for MCSFBN near their headquarters building.
“Perch and Pickerel was originally Navy housing, then it was transferred into the Public Private Partnership,” said NBK Housing director Barry Doll. “It was then given back to the Navy when its useful life was expended. At that point the Navy had to decide to either utilize the buildings or demolish them and build new barracks.”
The creative thinking of the team led to the conversion idea in 2015. The idea then progressed after the backing from leadership up and down the chain of command and in the process saved the Navy more than $10 million, as well as Public Private Ventures (PPV) project millions in demolition costs.
“With the two crew submarines at Bangor, we have a unique situation where we can increase the assignment of residents to these units beyond just two Sailors while still keeping the day-to-day living experience of the residents as if there were only two residents in the unit,” said Commander, Navy Region Northwest Housing Program director Lee Thomas. “This was achieved by presenting the opportunity to leadership and them approving the exception to policy to make assignments by splitting the bedrooms of a unit between the blue and gold crew members of a boat. This allowed us to assign an E-4 from one crew to one bedroom and two E-3 and below Sailors from the other crew, so while there are three Sailors assigned to the unit, since the boat is at sea most of the time, there will only be one bedroom with residents for most of the time.”
This was able to increase occupancy nearly an additional 50 percent from 336 residents to 504. With the exception from the Chief of Naval Operation’s UH assignment policy, which limits no more than two residents assigned to a unit with one bathroom. The solution after approval allowed the housing team to achieve the mission, while still maintaining a high quality of life for Sailors in the 800-square-foot apartments.
“The lasting memory I will have from this conversion is when the first command, the USS Alabama Blue, moved into the complex, and when the residents saw their new homes for the first time, they were grinning from ear-to-ear,” said Jason Powell, NBK UH manager. “That was an expression we don’t always get to see.”
| Date Taken: | 10.14.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.14.2020 19:18 |
| Story ID: | 380908 |
| Location: | NAVAL BASE KITSAP-BREMERTON, WA, US |
| Hometown: | NAVAL BASE KITSAP-BREMERTON, WA, US |
| Hometown: | WASHINGTON, DC, US |
| Hometown: | YOUNGSTOWN, OH, US |
| Web Views: | 400 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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