Navy Reserve command opens HQ building in Norfolk

NORFOLK

There's always something to be said for showing up. Through its nearly 100-year history, that is precisely what the Navy Reserve has prided itself on doing.

Now, the reserve has shown up here for good. On Tuesday morning, Navy leaders cut the ribbon on the new home of the Navy Reserve Forces Command. The three-story, 90,000-square-foot brick building stands in the southwest corner of Norfolk Naval Station.

The headquarters relocated from New Orleans. By summer, about 450 sailors and civilians will be working here, overseeing the financing, equipping and deploying of Navy reservists worldwide.

The move came as a result of the 2005 Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission report.

The move made sense because it puts the reserve headquarters on the same base as U.S. Fleet Forces Command, which decides how to shift forces to meet the needs of commanders around the world, said Rear Adm. John G. Messerschmidt, commander of Navy Reserve Forces Command.

Often, reservists are part of those decisions.

This proximity means better communication between active and reserve forces, including regular face-to-face meetings with the various local commands, said Vice Adm. Dirk J. Debbink, chief of Navy Reserve and commander of Navy Reserve Force.

During World War II, four out of five sailors came from the Navy Reserve. Today, just over half the sailors serving as individual augmentees - the on-the-ground assignments in the Middle East and other key locations - are reservists. So are about half of the Navy's expeditionary forces.

Since 9/11, more than 54,000 Navy reservists have been called up for duty.

Today's reservists are filling all sorts of billets. They are performing customs inspections, working in detention camps, training the Afghan military, serving as Seabees, and guarding Iraqi oil platforms.

Moreover, about three-quarters of these reservists are volunteering for their positions, thereby freeing the Navy from certain restrictions on how frequently it can call on them.

This "has strengthened the Navy's reach," said Vice Adm. Peter H. Daly, deputy commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, who spoke at Tuesday's ceremony.

"They are essential to the mission," he said. "They provide capacity that, frankly, the active forces can't provide."

Matthew Jones, (757) 446-2949, matthew.jones@pilotonline.com