As a helicopter passes overhead, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Walsh nails a piece of wood to the top of temporary barracks being built at Naval Station Rota, Spain. (Scott Schonauer/Stars and Stripes)
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain — The Navy is building a temporary base camp to house a growing number of military personnel traveling through Rota on their way to fight the war on terrorism or possibly Iraq.
Navy Seabees and civilian workers plan to construct 44 wooden units at the base’s fairgrounds to accommodate more than 600 people. The project will cost about $500,000.
If the United States goes to war against Iraq, the naval station expects the number of visitors to increase dramatically.
The units are more commonly known as “SEA Huts” and are similar to the Army living quarters found in Bosnia and Kosovo. Navy Seabees with the base’s Public Works Department and Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Five began work on the camp earlier this week. A small cadre of civilian workers are helping.
The team expected to finish the first five units on Wednesday. They plan to complete the project by the end of the month.
“On our schedule right now, we’re looking at completing four per day,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tim Liberatore, the naval station’s assistant Public Works officer. “It’s kind of like an assembly line.”
As the U.S. military continues its buildup in the Persian Gulf, the naval station has been a busy stopping point for cargo planes ferrying personnel and equipment to the Middle East.
Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Guy Pronesti, right, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Walsh put a roof on a temporary barracks at Naval Station Rota. (Scott Schonauer/Stars and Stripes)
The base camp being built at Naval Station Rota, Spain, as seen from a water tower. (Scott Schonauer/Stars and Stripes)
Most berthing facilities on base already are near or at capacity and hotels off base in the summer months are usually packed with tourists.
The small camp will provide a little more room for troops heading to the Gulf or personnel deployed to the base for a short period.
Each hut — which can hold up to 14 people — will have air conditioning, heating and American-style electrical outlets. Showers and toilets will be available in mobile units. The camp will also include laundry facilities.
Two of the huts will be dedicated to recreation, base spokesman Lt. Corey Barker said. One hut is going to be a lounge with a television, couches, vending machine, refrigerator and microwave. The second will be an Internet café with eight to 10 computer terminals so personnel can check and send e-mail.
The 44 temporary units make up what is considered the first phase of what could be a much larger camp if required.
“If we need some more, we’ll go erect more,” Barker said.
On any given day, about 50 Seabees are working on the camp. Some work off-site, making the doors, stairs and walls. When they are finished, they bring them to the site and the other Seabees put them together.
The huts should be cozy and comfortable. But what transient personnel will think of them when they arrive depends on their expectations, Liberatore said.
“If they come in with the expectation of a barracks room, then they’re going to be disappointed,” he said. “If they come in with the expectation of a tent, they’re going to be real happy. It really comes down to the type of unit, whether it’s Air Force, Army [or] Navy. If it’s Seabees coming in, they’re going to be happy. I can tell you that because they’re used to tents.”
A name for the camp has not been decided.
