Peninsula In Passage

JFCOM Bill Smith

The military has been a presence on the North Suffolk peninsula since the Colonial days when shoreline forts protected settlers from not only the Indians but also attack by the Spanish, trade raids by the Dutch and invasion by the British. In the last 20 years the military presence has grown dramatically via the development of a cluster of military facilities in Harbour View. Probably the best known element of the military presence has been the intriguing and sophisticated modeling and simulation programs. William F.”Bill” Smith, Chief, Engineering and Facilities Division, Joint Staff Service Support Office, Hampton Roads, is a history buff, the guy who stops to read every historical marker. His love of history deepened with working engineering projects in 44 different countries in his 40 year career with Civil Service. A professional engineer based at Harbour View, he’s also the man responsible for the management of all the Joint Staff facilities in Hampton Roads. For him, it’s like living history every day. At its peak locally JFCOM (U. S. Joint

Forces Command) employed nearly 3,900 contractors and service members in Suffolk and Norfolk. In August, 2011, JFCOM was dis-established as a Department of Defense cost cutting measure, eliminating about 1900 jobs, including Smith’s. JFCOM’s core missions, including joint training, were moved to the Joint Staff in the northern Suffolk facility. Smith had the responsibility of closing 17 buildings and managing the transition of the remaining 2000 people into adequate facilities in Hampton Roads, including those in Harbour View. He also coordinated facilities for the U. S. Navy’s 10th Fleet Cyber Command that moved to Suffolk from Little Creek in Norfolk.

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