by Mindy Aguon

Guam - The delay in the Marines' relocation from Okinawa to Guam and the interruption in construction projects for the buildup has forced NAVFAC Marianas to reshape its command to operate within funding and workload limitations. The Guam Chamber of Commerce though isn't necessarily surprised that the reshaping could mean layoffs of civilian workers - but they're hopeful those measures won't be necessary if the pace of the buildup picks up.

NAVFAC Marianas' recent announcement regarding the ongoing reshaping of the command due to reduced workload and funding has come as no surprise for members of the Chamber, including president Dave Leddy. "NAVFACMAR is like any business. Businesses have to constantly reinvent themselves in order to stay competitive in order to keep their doors open," he said.

Chamber member Carl Peterson agrees, saying NAVFAC Marianas must live within its budget, which is derived from contracts that they let out. He explains that contracts are developed with overhead included in the pricing of those contracts and because they haven't been able to let them due to the slow pace of the military buildup, a possible reduction in force, early retirements and voluntary separation are a strong possibility.

"There's some very well trained people that work for NAVFAC here that hopefully won't be out of a job; if it comes to pass then they'll be out of a job and that's unfortunate but hopefully it'll start up again real quickly so they'll be able to continue," he shared.

NAVFAC has been hosting brown bag lunch question-and-answer sessions with its employees informing them of resources that are available to them should the command implement reduction in force measures. Officials have already confirmed that some stateside hires may return home early and a survey is being conducted to see how many employees would be interested in voluntary separation or how many are eligible for early retirement. NAVFAC hasn't provided any details as far as what jobs are on the line and how many, but Peterson says officials are hopeful the pace of the buildup picks up to avoid any layoffs.

"We're just waiting for the budget deal that we've worked out and some activity with the Futenma Replacement [Facility] and the agreements between the two countries - it's a process. It takes much longer than anyone anticipates. I think it's basically these contracts are basically held up until these issues are resolved," he explained.