Personnel from Naval Air Station Guantanamo Bay are finally returning home after spending three weeks at NAS Pensacola to escape Hurricane Melissa.
NAS Pensacola announced that the personnel began returning to Cuba Nov. 12 and will be finished leaving Nov. 14.
“The dedicated and professional team at NAS Pensacola went above and beyond to ensure that these members of our Navy family were afforded every convenience we could provide,” said Capt. Chandra Newman, NAS Pensacola’s commanding officer. “The support of our air station and tenant command service members, civilian employees and other volunteers has been amazing during our increased operational tempo with our Guantanamo Bay guests, and I couldn’t be prouder of this team during what has been a challenging evolution.”
Newman said the activation of the Emergency Family Assistance Center (EFAC), a temporarily-activated entity in response to an event causing relocation, was critical to the success of the nearly three-week operation. Controlled by NAS Pensacola’s Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC), several installation departments and community mutual aid partnerships such as the Pensacola-area American Red Cross and the United Services Organization (USO) were involved in the ongoing evolution.
The non-mission essential personnel movement allowed NAS Guantanamo Bay to minimize operations during Hurricane Melissa and expedited recovery operations. An estimated 5,500 personnel and families live and work onboard Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.
NAS Pensacola, the only Navy installation in the Gulf with both a deep-water port and active airfield, previously received non-mission essential personnel during 2016’s Hurricane Michael, and also serves as a safe harbor for numerous U.S. Coast Guard and USNS ships during extreme weather situations.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: NAS Guantanamo Bay personnel leave NAS Pensacola after Hurricane Melissa evacuation
Reporting by Benjamin Johnson, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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