TESTER Naval Air Station Patuxent River
Vol. 71, No. 43
Frightful Nights, Fun Days Page 2
Accolades Around the Air Station Page 9
Magic Carpet Meets the Fleet Page 10
Celebrating 71 Years of Community Partnership
NAVFAC Public Works at NAS Patuxent River $160 Million — Total cost of the 488 projects at Pax in fiscal year 2014.
$70 Million — The cumulative value of the 670 awarded construction and service contract actions
$800,000 — Annual utilities and maintenance savings from the energy savings performance contract at Webster Outlying Field
October 30, 2014
By Donna Cipolloni NAS Patuxent River Public Affairs
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or 172 years, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) has served the Navy and established a strong tradition of making a positive difference. A look back at fiscal 2014 shows the dedication, expertise and commitment of the NAVFAC Patuxent River Public Works Department and highlights some of their accomplishments and milestones: Oversaw 470,000 manhours of contractor construction Awarded 670 construction and service contract actions with a cumulative value of $70 million Processed over $105 million, which delivered critical products and services to our supported commands
See Public Works, Page 5 Photo illustration by Shawn Graham/ U.S. Navy photos by Donna Cipolloni
Gate 1 Closed Nov. 1-2 The following changes to Gate 1 operations and Buse Road traffic pattern take effect Nov. 1-2 to accommodate scheduled road work on Buse Road. Gate 1 will be closed; Gate 2 will serve as the main gate for Nov. 1-2 during roadwork Buse Road will be closed from Gate 1 to Cuddihy Road Buse Road will be down to one lane open in both directions from Cuddihy Road to Cedar Point Road Note: Road work is dependent on weather.
Grave situation on Bloodsworth Island By Donna Cipolloni NAS Patuxent River Public Affairs
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urrounded by water, uninhabitable and physically scarred from years of former Navy artillery testing operations, Bloodsworth Island is the desolate final resting place for three members of the family who once called it home. On Fin Creek Ridge, the densely overgrown high point of the island — located 18 miles southeast of NAS Patuxent River — are the white granite headstones of Mary E., Sarah and William Bloodsworth, who passed away within three years of each other, between 1882 and 1885. The Navy is required to identify and evaluate any archaeological sites
on its properties and the graves were located during an extensive archaeological survey of the island in 1980, explained Mike Smolek, cultural resources manager for Pax River. He and Conservation Director Kyle Rambo visited the island in September to check the environmental and cultural status of the site. Obscured by the thick marsh grass and dense shrub growth that has enveloped them, the graves were not easy to find. “We walked within six inches of a headstone and didn’t even see it at first,” said Smolek, an archaeologist by profession. “And once we found it, it took another 10 minutes to locate the other two, even though we knew they were within 20 feet of the first.”
Salt water encroachment — due to rising sea level — is inundating the island, leaving the ground spongy, wet and impossible to walk on without each footstep sinking into mud. Large trees have been killed off and it’s now covered mostly in windswept marsh vegetation. “[The headstones] are in relatively good condition considering they’re out there in that forbidding environment,” Smolek said. “The highest point, where the cemetery is located, is no more than five feet above sea level, but the vast majority of the island is only a foot or less above sea level.” While more graves may
See Bloodsworth, Page 5
Courtesy photo
NAS Patuxent River Conservation Director Kyle Rambo reads the epitaph on one of the three headstones standing on Navy-owned Bloodsworth Island, located in the Chesapeake Bay. Obscured by marsh vegetation, the headstones mark the graves of Bloodsworth family members who passed away in the 1880s.