During a ceremony held at the shore enterprise’s headquarters at the Washington Navy Yard on Oct. 5, CNIC leadership and team members reflected on their history and discussed the command’s future.
Looking Back
Established in 2003, CNIC has played a pivotal role in enhancing the quality of life for Navy personnel and their families, managing and maintaining naval installations worldwide, and ensuring readiness across the fleet.
“CNIC may be young in comparison to other Navy commands, but we are equally committed as enablers for the Navy’s forward presence around the globe,” said Rear Adm. John Menoni, Acting Commander, Navy Installations Command.
Before CNIC stood up, there were 18 major Navy commands that handled installation functions. The complexity of that organizational structure resulted in little unity of effort, which caused significant challenges for the fleet.
When CNIC was established 20 years ago, it became the single focused installation management organization with core responsibility to provide unified program, policy, and funding to manage and oversee shore installation support to the fleet. This action allowed other commands to concentrate on their primary operational missions, independent of concerns regarding base operations, owning of facilities, host nation responsibilities, and the provision of support to their tenants.
“Installations are operationally relevant warfighting and logistics platforms that are vital to the defense of the nation,” Menoni said. “Success in the Navy’s primary mission; defending freedom, preserving economic prosperity, and keeping the seas open and free, and when deterrence fails, winning our nations wars, is not possible without the shore.”
The Future of Navy Installations
In May of this year, CNIC was designated by the Chief of Naval Operations as the Shore Type Commander (TYCOM) with administrative control of all Navy installations and enduring locations by coordinating and overseeing Manpower, Training and Equipping functions and standardized operations.
“The shift to Shore TYCOM aligns command and control authorities, responsibilities, accountability, and resources to the installation’s center of gravity – the installation commanding officer,” Menoni said. “Bottom line, we are past looking for efficiencies and manpower savings. This course correction is about getting our installations ready to fight and win.”
With its continued dedication, CNIC will play a pivotal role in shaping the Navy’s success in the years to come, ensuring that Navy installations remain safe, efficient, and supportive of the fleet’s mission. One way of accomplishing this is taking on the oversight and management of the Navy’s bulk fuel systems across the globe.
As directed by the Acting Chief of Naval Operations last month, CNIC and Naval Supply Systems Command are in the process of transferring the majority of the Navy’s bulk fuel Defense Fuel Support Points to the Navy shore enterprise to establish the installation commanding officers as the single accountable official for safe, effective, and efficient operations. The ultimate goal of the transfer is to improve the efficient and effective management of bulk fuel systems and enhance operational and material readiness.
Supporting the Fleet, Fighter, Family
CNIC has been a steadfast guardian of the Navy’s installations and a dedicated advocate for the wellbeing of Navy personnel and their families for the past two decades. The shore enterprise has numerous efforts underway to improve quality of service for Sailors and their families.
In the past year, CNIC has improved access to high speed WI-FI by upgrading services at 61 liberty centers for single and unaccompanied Sailors. The command is also developing a pilot program that will introduce free high speed WI-FI to a selection of Hampton Roads barracks by next year.
In addition, CNIC earlier this year released the Unaccompanied Housing Bill of Rights & Responsibilities, which clarifies expectations regarding what the Navy guarantees to provide for Sailors and what is expected of residents to maintain their own housing space. CNIC also launched Unaccompanied Housing QR maintenance codes to allow residents to easily report maintenance issues at any time of day and receive updated about the status of their maintenance requests.
Childcare remains one of the top priorities. In the past year, CNIC has increased Child Development Center enrollment on base from 70-84 percent of infrastructure capacity through comprehensive provider recruitment initiatives, employee childcare discounts, and increased marketing of our positions. CNIC has also achieved an increased capacity in the community through the Navy Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood program with approximately 6,300 children enrolled in this fee assistance program.
“Making this all possible are the 43,000 military and civilian personnel who are the backbone of CNIC,” said the command’s Force Master Chief Jason Dunn during CNIC’s 20th anniversary ceremony. “The skilled and talented personnel who make up Team CNIC are dedicated to serving our Navy and nation. Our people are the best in the business.”
It is with its workforce that CNIC will continue to improve the delivery of high quality services to the Navy fleet and Sailors.
“As we look to the future, we will bias ourselves towards action and accelerate our course change as we work towards positive and consequential outcomes for the fleet,” Menoni said.
Commander, Navy Installations Command is responsible for worldwide U.S. Navy shore installation management, designing and developing integrated solutions for sustainment and development of Navy shore infrastructure as well as quality of life programs. Follow CNIC on social media: Facebook @NavyInstallations; X @cnichq; and Instagram @cnichq.