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Naval Station Pascagoula

 

Naval Station (NAVSTA) Pascagoula occupies 187 acres of Singing River Island, which is located in the Mississippi Sound at the mouth of the Pascagoula River. There is about 250 acres of undeveloped land owned by the Navy and adjacent to the NAVSTA for future military expansions.

In the early 1980s Congress approved the strategic homeporting initiative to build additional bases and disperse the Fleet from the main concentration areas. Naval Station Pascagoula was created in 1985 when the Navy selected the Singing River Island location as one of the new Gulf Coast strategic homeport sites. Base construction began in 1988, and the station became an operational homeport of Perry Class guided-missile frigates in 1992 with the arrival of the first ship, USS Gallery (FFG 26).


NAVSTA Pascagoula's support mission has increased dramatically in subsequent years due to a variety of actions: the BRAC-93 realignment of ships and other units from closing or downsized bases; the reorganization of the Naval Surface Force, Atlantic, which homeported Ticonderoga-class AEGIS guided-missile cruisers in Pascagoula; and the relocation of both the Pascagoula Coast Guard Station and a Reliance Class (210') Coast Guard cutter to the naval station.

NAVSTA Pascagoula provides support not only to personnel stationed onboard the station and its homeported ships, but also to pre-commissioning crews of surface combatant ships that are being constructed at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems' Pascagoula shipyard. In that regard, beginning in FY99 NAVSTA assumed ownership and operating responsibility for the "Lakeside" Naval Support Facility, which is located within the city of Pascagoula approximately 10 miles from the main base, which provides berthing primarily for the pre-commissioning crews. The base also provides support to the Navy community at large in a variety of ways, most notably through the Fleet and Family Support Center, the Housing Referral Office, and the Morale Welfare and Recreation Department.

NAVSTA Pascagoula currently supports approximately 2,200 active duty military, including those assigned to ships and tenant commands on the station. It employs more than 200 civilian workers; supports 4,100 family members of active duty military; approximately 850 reservists who live in Jackson County; and approximately 4,000 Jackson County retirees and their family members. Total annual economic impact is estimated at $100 million, which includes payrolls, contracts, goods and services.

Waterfront support infrastructure at NAVSTA Pascagoula includes a 680-foot double-deck pier (utilities on lower deck; upper deck free for operational support), two quayside berths, and the full range of services for "cold iron" support of homeported and visiting ships. Ship maintenance and repair support is available from the Navy's Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity (SIMA), or by contract (there are 17 major shipyards/marine contractors located along the Gulf Coast between New Orleans, La., and Panama City, Fla.).


NAVSTA Pascagoula epitomizes the "clean sheet" design for a modern naval station, and is a model of environmental responsibility. The men and women stationed here live throughout the surrounding communities where they participate with their neighbors in all facets of community life - religious, social and civic. The Mississippi Gulf Coast has a long tradition of supporting our nation's defense, and NAVSTA Pascagoula is proud to serve alongside.

Tenant commands at NAVSTA Pascagoula include the Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity, Pascagoula; Commander, Destroyer Squadron SIX; U.S. Coast Guard Station Pascagoula; Branch Medical Clinic; Branch Dental Clinic; Combatant Homeport Engineering Team; Multiple Unit Tactical Training System; Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Jacksonville Detachment; Public Works Center Pensacola (Fla.) Detachment; Navy Exchange; and Navy College Office.