Officer in Charge of Construction Marine Corps Marianas (OICC MCM) earned the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Small Non-Industrial Shore Safety Award for fiscal year 2025, a testament to the command’s commitment to safety while executing a multi-billion dollar construction program.
Awarded annually to U.S. Navy and Marine Corps commands, the CNO Shore Safety Awards rank as top safety honors within the department and highlight commands excelling in improving mission readiness by preventing mishaps, injuries and material losses. The Naval Safety Command’s Shore Safety Directorate reviews and grades nominations for all award categories, spanning from large industrial shipyards to smaller, non-industrial commands like OICC MCM.
"It is humbling to accept the CNO Shore Safety Award on behalf of the outstanding team of both military, civilian, and our contractor partners at OICC MCM," said Capt. Blake Burket, OICC MCM commanding officer. "This honor validates our core belief that operational readiness and a robust safety culture are one and the same.”
OICC MCM’s achievement results from a comprehensive safety program that enables every team member to identify and mitigate risks. This proactive approach proved critical in managing the strategic construction program for the relocation of Marine Corps forces to Guam, which in recent years included dozens of projects valued at more than $3.5 billion. On an operation of this scale with over 4,000 personnel, the potential for safety incidents is inherently high, underscoring the effectiveness of the command’s safety-first culture.
“Safety requires consistent input of effort and awareness. It can never be ‘complete,’” said Burket. “At the end of the day, it is not about statistics or checklists, but rather looking out for one another and managing risk effectively, ensuring our command remains ready to execute the mission at a moment's notice.”
The CNO Small Non-Industrial Shore Safety Award is not the first safety award OICC MCM has earned. In 2021, the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) awarded OICC MCM the SECNAV Safety Excellence Award in the ashore category. As a result of this year’s CNO award, OICC MCM automatically advances as a contender for the SECNAV award once again.
This award serves as a capstone achievement for OICC MCM. As the command successfully concludes its construction obligations, it is preparing for its scheduled disestablishment this summer, leaving behind a legacy of critical infrastructure and a standard of safety excellence.
OICC MCM is the NAVFAC element assigned to oversee the $8.7B U.S. Indo-Pacific Command priority program for construction of Marine Corps Based Camp Blaz on the US Territory of Guam. Camp Blaz is the first ground up construction of a new Marine base in 70+ years.