Department of the Navy Leaders Sign Guam Explosive Safety Submission

Culminating over three years of negotiation, Department of the Navy leaders has signed an agreement to establish a disciplined process for the Commander, Joint Region Marianas (CJRM) to have the authority to implement prudent explosive safety principles on Guam.

The agreement will have an immediate impact on billions of dollars in military construction activities being undertaken by all military services with missions on Guam, including the relocation of United States Marines from the Island of Okinawa, Japan.

The ceremony marks submission of the Guam Munitions Response Explosive Safety Submission to the Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity (NOSSA). To acknowledge this historic occasion, Mr. Dale Sisson, Executive Director of NOSSA, and Mr. Jim Balocki, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations, Energy and Facilities) signed a memorandum of agreement.

“This agreement is all about safely accelerating the delivery of warfighter capabilities by the Air Force, Navy, and Marines to a region of the world critical to our nation’s strategic interests,” said The Honorable Lucian Niemeyer, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations and Environment). “We no longer will have extended delays for essential military construction projects, and will be able to save U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.”

According to Niemeyer, the event marks the culmination of many years work by staff across the globe to address the unique challenges associated with constructing facilities on Guam, a former World War II battleground. The agreement is intended as a template to improve the communication and teamwork across the explosive safety functions in the Department of Defense to expand activities on other islands with similar histories during World War II.

“This is a significant day for many of us; this agreement will enable greater agility in the decision making process, save money, and most importantly, deliver infrastructure capabilities more quickly in the Pacific region. This agreement was made possible by the extraordinary leadership at NOSSA, the DoD Explosive Safety Board. and dedicated work by many professionals on Guam, in Hawaii and here in the DC Region.,” said James B. Balocki, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations, Energy and Facilities).