[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E189-E190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING THE MARITIME SECURITY INFRASTRUCTURE COUNCIL'S PLAN TO
MODERNIZE THE USMMA CAMPUS
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HON. ANDREW R. GARBARINO
of new york
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Mr. GARBARINO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a member of the U.S.
Merchant Marine Academy Congressional Board of Visitors to thank the
experts of the Maritime Security Infrastructure Council.
Recognizing the vital role of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in our
national security and concerned about outdated and deteriorating
conditions across campus, they assembled a straightforward, multi-year
plan to bring the campus up to a standard commensurate with its crucial
function. I am pleased to include in the Record a summary of their plan
to modernize the Academy's 80-year-old infrastructure as well as a link
to the Full Speed Ahead Plan in its entirety, which can be found at
https://wearetheusmma.com/fullspeedahead/.
Graduates of the USMMA, one of our Nation's five federal service
academies, make up more than 80 percent of the U.S. Navy Strategic
Sealift Officer Force. Without these service-committed mariners, the
Nation would have no assured source of trained, licensed officers to
crew the vessels which move materiel, fuel and supplies to foreign
shores in wartime. Without a comprehensive capital improvement plan and
its timely execution, conditions on the USMMA's Kings Point, New York
campus will continue to worsen, adversely impacting mission-critical
training and hindering recruitment of dedicated service-obligated
midshipmen.
For far too long, Congress has ignored the infrastructure required to
provide USMMA midshipmen the specialized education and training they
need to fulfill their mission. It is now time to make the institution
worthy of their commitment to serve our Nation.
Maritime Security Infrastructure Council
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Full Speed Ahead Plan
Full Speed Ahead: A Plan to Address Critical Infrastructure Needs at
the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Background: In January 2021, the Maritime Security
Infrastructure Council (MSIC), a group with expertise in
major construction project management and concerned about the
deterioration of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA)
infrastructure, developed a comprehensive plan to bring the
campus up to the standards necessary to prepare USMMA
Midshipmen to lead our Nation's maritime mission in the 21st
century.
The Full Speed Ahead Plan is an intensive 8-year program to
execute a decades overdue, comprehensive modernization: new
academic buildings, physical readiness/training facilities,
midshipmen morale and welfare spaces, parking structures,
faculty and senior staff housing, utilities, IT, and campus
security upgrades, and renovations of many existing
buildings. This plan is adaptable, e.g., it can be adjusted
for longer construction timelines and funding schedules,
and--importantly--it is intended to be executed while keeping
USMMA fully operational throughout construction.
Previous cost estimates were $611M in January 2021 and
$820M in March 2022. The estimated cost when adjusted for
inflation has now risen to $1.02B; additional delay will only
further increase the cost of this urgently needed
modernization.
The need: With over 80 years in service to our nation, a
comprehensive modernization is long overdue if USMMA is to
continue producing world-class, service-committed merchant
marine officers who are the backbone of the U.S. Navy's
Strategic Sealift Officer Force and a crucial element of
defense readiness.
Congress has rightly recognized the necessity of and
supported funding modernization projects at the other federal
service academies, especially West Point and Annapolis. Long-
term low funding levels have left the campus under-resourced,
and the result is a deteriorating campus that makes
attracting a diverse applicant pool and providing state-of-
the-art mission critical training even more difficult. Many
of the facilities date back to the Academy's founding in the
1940s and are simply not conducive to the immersive training
and demanding coursework expected from our Nation's five
service academies.
Modern IT is nearly nonexistent in several buildings; what
is available cannot accommodate even the most basic digital
needs of Midshipmen, let alone support the increasingly high-
tech vessel systems that they must master.
Aside from minor Midshipmen Barracks repairs in the 2000s,
there have been no renovations or upgrades since 1988. Nearly
every building on campus has exceeded its life expectancy and
now requires replacement or major renovation.
This is particularly true of the Academy's physical
training, leadership readiness, and athletic facilities.
Although USMMA was the first federal service academy to admit
women in 1974, no additional athletic or training spaces have
been provided for female teams in the ensuing 50 years,
clearly contrary to the requirements of Title IX. Overall,
these limited and outdated facilities are inadequate for
Midshipmen to maintain physical readiness standards of the
U.S. Navy and other services and adversely impact the
recruitment of future Midshipmen. Midshipmen need a purpose-
built pool, featuring a separate wave pool with high dive/
jump capabilities in order to accommodate their specific
mandatory training needs for rescue and survival at sea.
The Fix: Our working group of maritime executives,
engineers, architects, and construction industry
professionals--some USMMA graduates--propose the
authorization and funding of a multi-year program of
infrastructure replacement and improvement projects.
The Budget and Timeline Snapshot: We suggest directed
funding for foundational design work that will serve as the
blueprint for an aggressive eight-year construction and
project management program. However, the plan can be readily
adapted to meet longer construction timelines and funding
schedules, along with any potential project modifications. As
of January 2024, the current cost of the plan is $1.02B over
eight years.
The Plan: For decades, concerned stakeholders have
unsuccessfully sought to upgrade USMMA's physical plant; this
plan reflects much of the quality thinking and hard work that
went into earlier plans, which regrettably never came to
fruition. This document specifically builds on the input of
those earlier planning initiatives.
This plan details the facilities necessary for the USMMA to
preserve its position as the preeminent leader in maritime
education in the Nation, today and into the future. It
reflects a long overdue acknowledgment that the campus has
fallen woefully behind the other four federal service
academies and other peer top-tier institutions.
The plan meets the long-term objectives of the Academy
through facilities that will promote modern educational best
practices, including globally connected research facilities;
engineering powerplant laboratories; 21st century IT-enabled
classrooms.
Support mission critical proficiencies: Standards of
Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW) applications
laboratories; Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) training pool;
Conference and license exam space.
Promote readiness: Accessible modernized fitness facilities
sufficient to enable all Midshipmen to maintain physical
readiness standards required of USN Reserve officers; NCAA-
standard facilities for all athletes; Health and wellness
center.
Facilitate leadership development: Weapons range; enhanced
waterfront facilities; band facility.
Attract a diverse pool of applicants to ensure USMMA
enrolls the best and the brightest.
Provide continuing education and industry engagement
facilities: Maritime Center of Excellence for research,
innovation, and policy development; MSCE accreditation
required post-graduate continuing education opportunities;
Maritime industry leadership conference capability.
Maintain a secure facility and a safe environment: secure
campus at a level necessary to protect a federal facility;
centralized security/access control at main gate and academy
facilities; fencing and monitoring of campus boundaries;
cyber-secure, modernized IT network.
Master Planning Process and Principles: The 82-acre campus
is a unique, historically significant property. Our plan is
designed to modernize the campus without expanding its
current footprint.
The Education District includes the original 1943 academic
buildings, barracks, and
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administrative offices that form the hub of the campus.
The Waterfront District includes Eldridge Pool, the
Memorial Arbors, the Chapel, Yocum Sailing Center, the USCG
Station, Samuels Hall and Crowninshield/Cressy Pier.
The Physical Training and Athletics District includes all
the Academy's athletic facilities.
The Community District encompasses all of the McNulty
Campus, including faculty housing and the museum. A second
community district south of the Education District includes
senior staff housing, the Patten Health Clinic, and the
Midshipmen Activities Center.
Program Cost Summary:
Construction: Academic Center $116M; Activity Center
$42.2M; Aquatic Readiness Center $65.6M; Leadership
Development and Readiness Center $133.1M; Parking Structures
$50.7M; Federal Maritime Center of Excellence $49.1M; Senior
Staff/Faculty Housing $12.2M; Crowninshield Pier Replacement
$31.7M; Waterfront Sailing Center $19.2M. New construction
subtotal: $519.8M.
Facility Renovation & Upgrades: Samuels Hall Renovation
Completion $8.8M; Campus Security and Waterfront Improvements
$28.3M; GIS and Upgrade Academy Utilities $95.4M; Main Gate
and Campus Security Upgrade $53.9M; Bowditch Hall and
Steamboat Road Improvements $76.4M; Existing Building
Renovations $94.8M. Facility Renovation/Upgrades Subtotal:
$357.6M.
Design: $91.1M.
Program Management: $51.3M.
Total Program Cost: $1019.8M.
Maritime Security Infrastructure Council Members:
John D. Cameron, Jr., P.E. Managing Partner, Cameron
Engineering & Associates, LLP: Mr. Cameron oversees the
firm's consulting engineering services, which specializes in
public and private sector engineering such as site
development, energy management; water quality management
planning, waterfront protection and resilience; roadway,
drainage, utilities and infrastructure improvement; planning;
building systems; building department services, and
construction management. The firm's work has included major
mixed use, residential, commercial and industrial projects as
well as brownfields and waterfront projects. He is a frequent
spokesperson on regional planning, sustainability, economic
development issues for Long Island and beyond.
LTG Bill Grisoli (Ret.) Distinguished Chair of Civil
Engineering and Chair of the Civil Engineering Advisory
Board, USMA: LTG Bill Grisoli is currently serving as the
Distinguished Chair of Civil Engineering and Chair of the
Civil Engineering Advisory Board at USMA. He spent 39 years
on active duty and retired in 2015 as the Director of the
Army Staff. Prior to his retirement, LTG Grisoli held a wide
variety of engineer command assignments at the Company,
Battalion. Brigade, and Army Corps of Engineers Division
level. His staff assignments include Director of the Army's
Business Transformation Office and Director of Program
Analysis and Evaluation Office, G-8. LTG Grisoli was born in
NYC and graduated from USMA in 1976.
Lloyd C. Caldwell, P.E. SES, US Army Corps of Engineers
(Ret.): Mr. Caldwell served until 2020 as the national
Director of Military Programs responsible for the policy and
technical functions of the Corps' worldwide program for
engineering, design, construction, real estate and
environmental activities. He was responsible for military
construction and installation support at the USMA and the
USAFA. From 2005 to 2010, he was the Director of Programs for
the N. Atlantic Division responsible for military and civil
works and the Director of Programs for the Gulf Region
Division in Iraq. He is a Distinguished Military Graduate
with a Bachelor of Building Construction degree from Auburn
and holds MS in Civil Engineering and MPW degrees from the
University of Pittsburgh.
Capt. Eileen Roberson, USN (Ret.) SES, DOT/US Navy (Ret.):
Eileen Roberson is a retired United States Navy Reserve
Officer. As a long-time member of the Federal Government's
Senior Executive Service, Roberson has served as Director of
Total Force Management for the US Navy's Military Sealift
Command, Assistant for Administration to the Under Secretary
of the Navy, Associate Administrator at the Department of
Transportation's Maritime Administration, and Deputy Program
Executive Officer (PEO) for Navy Information Technology
Roberson holds a Master of Science degree in Management
Information Systems from Bowie State University in Bowie, MD
and a BS degree in Engineering from the United States
Merchant Marine Academy.
John O. Arntzen, President, ACTA Maritime Development
Corporation: Recently retired as a Senior Program Manager
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Atlantic
Division at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, New York, he helped
oversee a $2.4 billion Military Construction program on U.S.
Army and U.S. Air Force bases in Europe. Prior to this,
Arntzen was Special Missions Ships Project Officer for the
U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command. From 2015 to 2019,
Arntzen was Chairman of the USMMA Alumni Association and
Foundation (AAF). Arntzen holds a M.S. in Transportation
Management from SUNY and a B.S., with Honors, in Marine
Engineering from USMMA.
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