The Mission of the Naval Support Activity, New Orleans is to provide quality support to authorized commands, activities and personnel. Located within the city of New Orleans and on both banks of the Mississippi River, more than 4,500 military, civilian and contract employees work here. NSA is home to both the Navy and the Marine Corps Reserve Headquarters. Also located here is the Navy Reserve Professional Development Center, a schoolhouse dedicated to training Navy Reservists and full-time support personnel from all over the country. The base and tenant commands are a major factor in the area’s economy. The total impact exceeds $849 million, with salaries alone counting for more than $133 million. This also includes at least $584 million annually in shipbuilding contracts managed by one of our tenant commands, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair.
Principle Tenant Commands
East Bank
1192nd Army Terminal Transportation Brigade
4th Marine Air Wing
4th Marine Division
4th FSSG
Commander, Navy Reserve Forces Command
Defense Automated Printing Service
Marine Forces Reserve
Military Entrance Processing Station
Military Sealift Command Surge Detachment
Naval Aviation Engineering Service Unit
Naval Computer & Telecommunications Station
Navy Marine Corps Intranet
Navy Air Logistics Office
Navy Federal Credit Union
Navy Recruiting District
Scheduled Airline Ticket Office |
West Bank
All Hans Credit Union
Defense Commissary Activity
Fleet and Family Support Center
Human Resources Office
Naval Air Systems Command
Naval Ambulatory Care Center
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Navy Reserve Professional Development Center
Navy Band New Orleans
Navy College
Navy Dental Clinic
Navy Exchange
Navy & Marine Corps Relief Society
Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps
Navy Legal Service Office
Northwood University
Patrician Management
Personnel Support Detachment
Resident Officer in Charge of Construction
Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair (NAVSEA Gulf Coast) |
History
The Naval Support Activity (NSA) is one of the largest military installations in the greater New Orleans area. It is the host for activities from other branches of service and agencies of the federal government.
The land that underlies the Naval Support Activity forms part of an immense west bank concession given to Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, founder of New Orleans, in 1719 by the Company of the Indies. The land changed hands numerous times before it was purchased by the United States on February 14, 1849, for the site of a proposed Navy yard. The Navy yard was not built; however, and the land was leased for farming. In May of that year, additional ground was purchased by the Navy to enlarge the original site.
In November 1901, the Naval Dry Dock (YFD #2) arrived and the U.S. Naval Station was formally established. In 1902, the Commandant, Eighth Naval District, received almost $4 million for the new buildings and improvements to the station. Additional property was obtained in 1903, giving the Navy almost three-fourths of a mile of valuable river frontage.
The original buildings, some of which still stand, were completed on the site in 1903. Also located on the grounds is the LeBeuf-Ott country retreat, built in 1840. Today that home is known simply as Quarters “A” and is occupied by the area’s senior Navy flag officer.
The Naval Station remained open until September 1911. Following four years of inactivity, it was reopened in 1915 as an industrial Navy yard for repair of vessels. The station continued in full operation until June 1933, when it was placed in a maintenance status. In December 1939, the station was reactivated and eventually became a base to handle transient Naval personnel.
In September 1944, the station was designated the U.S. Naval Repair Base. However, just three years later it was designated the U.S. Naval Station, a name it held until January 1962, when it became the Headquarters, Support Activity, New Orleans. The latter name came about to reflect the fact that the Headquarters, Eighth Naval District, was aboard the station as a regular tenant.
Located on the east bank of the Mississippi River are the three largest buildings of the Naval Support Activity. The three giant buildings that tower six floors above the river each contain more than one-half million square feet of floor space and house a major part of NSA tenants.
The 30 acres of land and three buildings have a history that began in June of 1919, when the buildings were constructed for the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps for use as a general depot during World War I.|
These buildings were partially used by the QM Corps after completion until February 1931, when buildings 601 and 602 were leased to the board of commissioners, Port of New Orleans.
With the advent of World War II, the lease was canceled and the installation reverted to complete use by the military. After the QM Corps gave up the buildings, the official title became the New Orleans Port of Embarkation. In 1955, the tract of land was known as the New Orleans Army Terminal. In 1965 the name was changed to the New Orleans Army Base.
There was an expanding naval presence in the lower Mississippi Delta in the mid-1960s. In June 1996, the New Orleans Army Base transferred to the Navy. July 1966 saw the disestablishment of the Headquarters, Support Activity and the establishment of the Naval Support Activity to reflect the changing mission of the station. With this change in mission and designation, both sides of the river began serving as the Naval Support Activity for the first time.
Today, the Naval Support Activyt is the host for the headquarters of the nation’s Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Forces, along with approximately 40 other command serving all aspects of military life.
Commander, Navy Reserve Forces Command
Navy Reserve Mission
The mission of the U.S. Navy Reserve Force is to provide mission-capable units and individuals to the Navy, Marine Corps Team throughout the full range of operations from peace to war.
In today’s environment this new mandate takes on added meaning and responsibilities as the Navy Reserve Force is called on to play an increasingly active role in the day-to-day planning and operational requirements of the active Navy. The Navy Reserve represents 20 percent of the Navy’s total assets and is a significant force multiplier the fleet must have to meet its growing global commitments.
The Navy Reserve Force consists of the Ready Reserve, the Standby Reserve and the Retired Reserve; numbering more than 690,000 men and women. The “Ready Reserve” is made up of “Selected Reserve” personnel and “Individual Ready Reserve” (IRR) personnel. The Selected Reserve, or SELRES, is the Navy’s primary source of immediate mobilization manpower and represents those Reservists who are paid, either as weekend drillers, or who serve in fulltime support (TAR) on active duty status in the training and administration of the Navy Reserve Force program. Other reserve categories include the Standby Reserve and the Retired Reserve.
Navy Reserve History
The tradition of the Navy Reserve goes back to colonial days. The Navy Department, in 1887, prepared a plan of organization where the Secretary of the Navy was given authority to lend each state having a navy militia one of the Navy’s older ships as well as equipment to “promote drills and instruction.” In 1915, Congress formally created a Federal Navy Reserve, the ancestor organization of today’s Navy Reserve.
On August 29, 1916, Congress passed the Navy Reserve Appropriations Act that established the Navy Reserve Flying Corps. Approximately seven months later, March 24, 1917, 12 students from Yale volunteered to become what is recognized as the first Navy Air Reserve flying squadron. From that beginning, Navy Air Reservists have served in every crisis that has confronted the nation, including World War I, World War II, Korea, the Berlin Airlift, Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm.
The essence of the Navy Reserve Force is etched on the granite of countless monuments across the land to our country’s citizen Sailors. Each one is a solemn, majestic testimonial to the faithful, selfless service Reservists have sacrificed throughout the history of our great nation.
The Navy Reserve Force is comprised of men and women who serve at home and abroad, on shore, in the air and at sea, on active duty and on the drill deck. They are not just “weekend warriors” any more. They can be found on station, around the world, 24 hours a day, augmenting the Fleet on a daily basis as an active part of the greatest Navy.
Marine Forces Reserve | Naval Reserve Professional Development Center
