to personnel stationed on board the station and its homeported ships but also to pre-commissioning crews of surface combatant ships that were being constructed at Ingalls Shipbuilding. Beginning in Fiscal Year 1999, the station assumed ownership and operating responsibility for the Lakeside Naval Support Facility (Lakeside NSF). The Lakeside NSF, located within the city of Pascagoula approximately 10 miles from the main base, provides berthing primarily for the pre-commissioning crews. The base also provided support to the Navy community at large in a variety of ways, most notably through the Fleet and Family Support Center, the Housing Referral Office, and the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Department. As of 2005, NAVSTA Pascagoula supported approximately 2,000 active duty military, including those assigned to ships and tenant commands on the station. It employed more than 200 civilian workers; supported 4,100 family members of active duty military; approximately 850 reservists who live in Jackson County; and approximately 4,000 Jackson County retirees and their family members. Total annual economic impact was estimated at $100 million, including payrolls, contracts, goods, and services. NAVSTA Pascagoula epitomized the "clean sheet" design for a modern naval station. Waterfront support infrastructure at NAVSTA Pascagoula includes a 680-foot (205 m) double-deck pier (utilities on the lower deck; upper deck free for operational support), two quayside berths, and the full range of services for "cold iron" support of homeported and visiting ships. Ship maintenance and repair support is available from the Navy's Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity (SIMA), or by contract (there are 17 major shipyards/marine contractors located along the Gulf Coast between New Orleans, La., and Panama City, Fla.). Tenant commands at NAVSTA Pascagoula included Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity, Pascagoula Destroyer Squadron 6 USCG Station Pascagoula Base Realignment and Closure, 2005 NAVSTA Pascagoula was marked for consolidation under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's list of base closings in the May 2005 round. This was a blow to Mississippi Gulf Coast Congressman Gene Taylor (5th Congressional District) and Senators Thad Cochran and Trent Lott, who fought to get Pascagoula off the list in 1995. On 24 August 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure committee voted to include Naval Station Pascagoula on its final list of closures. The base officially closed 15 November 2006 with a disestablishment ceremony held 29 September 2006. References External links NAVSTA Pascagoula Base Realignment and Closure 2001 Naval Station Pascagoula Home page Archive 2005 Naval Station Pascagoula Home page Archive