Navy to move hundreds of jobs to Norfolk base

The Navy will be moving more than 500 jobs from Washington to Norfolk over the next five years, top officials announced Thursday.

Navy representatives said all but a small group of the Navy’s Military Sealift Command staff will be relocating to the organization’s headquarters in Norfolk by 2019.

The move will include 455 civilian employees, 30 active duty officers and 22 active duty enlisted positions.

“Consolidation in Virginia will help us streamline all of our processes,” said Military Sealift Command spokesman James Marconi Thursday.

Since 2012, the command has been split between two locations: Washington and Norfolk.

Consolidating the headquarters near the waterfront and closer to fleet leaders was a natural evolution, Marconi said.

“We do anticipate a small group of people will stay behind,” Marconi said, “but those positions are ones that would be easier to accomplish in the nation’s capital rather than Norfolk.”

The total cost of relocation is expected to run the Navy an estimated $31 million. Marconi said he could not give an estimate of how much time and money the move might save the Navy.

Norfolk is the home to the world's largest naval base and several other Navy bases occupy the surrounding region, including U.S. Fleet Forces Command, which trains and provides forces around the world.

Military Sealift Command is tasked with supporting the Navy's war-fighting forces, providing “gas, guns and groceries” to the fleet.

The command is in charge of about 110 civilian-crewed ships around the world, including two hospital ships.

The command also oversees a high-speed vessel, one of the Navy's newest ships and can quickly ferry members of all branches of the military and their equipment to hot spots around the world.

U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine applauded the Navy’s announcement Thursday.

“This is terrific news for Norfolk and the Navy,” the senators said in a prepared statement. “This move will bring new opportunities to Norfolk, home to the greatest naval concentration in the world.”

Marconi also lauded the naval base, its leadership and its staff’s initiative as commands have come and gone throughout the years.

“Again, this is all part of a natural evolution,” Marconi said. “There really have been few other consolidations than Norfolk that have worked as well in other parts of the country.”

Military Sealift Command has five regional commands that report to it, with offices in Norfolk; Point Loma, California; Naples, Italy; Manama, Bahrain; and Sembawang Wharves, Singapore.

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