The Navy is moving to rapidly replace 10 aging barracks buildings at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, giving thousands of unmarried Marines a long awaited housing upgrade.
The effort is designed to deliver modern quarters without waiting through the usual federal construction marathon.
A newly issued fast track solicitation calls for 10 Bachelor Enlisted Quarters across the sprawling installation.
Four buildings would contain 401 rooms each, three would provide 361 rooms each, and another three would include 261 rooms each.
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“The initiative will replace 10 outdated barracks buildings ... nearly 656,000 square feet in total ... with modern, high-quality facilities engineered to meet revised spatial standards and living configurations for today’s Marines,” according to a Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command news release.
The Camp Pendleton project is one piece of a much broader push to improve housing across the Marine Corps.
NAVFAC announced the planned work in a Special Notice published July 1, setting the stage for industry proposals and accelerated construction.
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That notice also identified future barracks projects at Camp Lejeune, Twentynine Palms, Parris Island, Cherry Point and Quantico. Childcare centers at several Navy installations were included as well, signaling a wider effort to improve the facilities that military families and service members rely upon every day.
NAVFAC released the construction solicitation Saturday and established an Oct. 1 deadline.
The Navy is specifically seeking builders capable of using modern production techniques rather than leaning entirely on the slow, expensive construction habits that have frustrated federal projects for decades.
The solicitation calls for “advanced manufacturing and IC [industrialized construction] methodologies (such as volumetric modular, hybrid, and/or Kit of Parts) to deliver high-performing, durable barracks.”
Those methods could allow major sections of each building to be manufactured in controlled environments before they are transported to Camp Pendleton and assembled.
Modular construction is also expected to reduce long term maintenance costs. Standardized components can simplify repairs, improve quality control and prevent the expensive improvisation that often follows poorly coordinated government construction.
“Barracks are especially well-suited for industrialized construction because their repeated room layouts and common building systems support faster, more standardized delivery at-scale,” the NAVFAC release noted.
The project will use a Progressive Design Build approach, bringing government officials, contractors and outside manufacturers together early in the design process.
Instead of passing paperwork from one bureaucratic desk to another, the participants can identify problems before they become costly delays at the construction site.
Officials aim to reduce construction time by at least 30 percent while cutting combined design and construction costs by at least 20 percent.
If those targets are met, Marines could receive better housing sooner while taxpayers avoid footing the bill for years of preventable delay.
“Selected vendors will be invited to submit full proposals covering design, manufacturing, logistics, and construction pricing and schedules for replacement barracks at Camp Pendleton,” the solicitation said.
The contract will rely on an Other Transaction Authority arrangement, which gives federal agencies greater flexibility to bypass many traditional acquisition regulations and procedures.
That authority matters because the standard federal process has a stubborn talent for turning urgent military needs into multiyear paperwork exercises.
Originally created during the 1950s to support research and technology projects during the Cold War, Other Transaction Authority agreements have since been expanded.
Recent changes allow the mechanism to cover military construction and repair projects, giving NAVFAC another tool to attack the Marine Corps housing problem.
“Our Marines cannot wait for traditional acquisition and construction timelines,” NAVFAC Commander Rear Adm. Jeffrey Kilian said in a statement. “Using this new OTA authority, NAVFAC can move faster, bring in the best of industry, and deliver barracks that match the standards our Marines deserve.”
Camp Pendleton’s construction is part of Barracks 2030, a nearly $11 billion Marine Corps initiative focused on replacing deteriorated living quarters by 2037.
Marine leaders have identified the program as a top priority, and rightly so, because warriors tasked with defending the nation should not return from training to buildings that belong in a demolition plan.
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