NOSC drops anchor at Luke

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Devante Williams
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  The U.S. Navy packed up ship in Phoenix not to move closer to a large body of water but to drop anchor back in the deserts of Arizona.

In March of 2012, the Navy Operational Support Center relocated to Luke Air Force Base.

"We were located on 35th Avenue just off I-10 in a standalone facility that was built in the '50s," said Lt. Cmdr. Raymond Fryberger, NOSC executive officer. "Our old building looked like an old high school with a fence and barbwire around it. It did not provide anti-terrorism protection."

Because of the situation that the NOSC was in, it was determined they would move to a more secure location.

"The purpose of the move was to be inside a military installation," said Capt. Michael DeWitt, NOSC commanding officer. "It was time to move into a better facility and being inside Luke is much better than being out by ourselves."

Luke's leadership opening its doors to the Navy made the moving process smooth with no hassles.

"Luke has been fantastic," DeWitt said. "With the support of Brig. Gen. JD Harris, (former 56th Fighter Wing commander), and the group commanders, Luke Airmen welcomed us with open arms and immediately made us feel part of the team."

The NOSC provides operational support for training and administrative services to Navy Reserve Units. It supports more than 750 Navy Reservists in 16 units with a full time staff of 20 active-duty and civilian members.

"The active-duty staff mission at the NOSC is to make sure their Reserve units are ready to mobilize," Fryberger said. "There are 16 Reserve units, essentially detachments, each with their own mission. We have many units with multiple missions, but the overall NOSC mission is to make sure reservists are able to walk out the door ready to go."

The NOSC also serves a full-time command and administrative staff, a medical unit, and reservists during drill weekends. It has a 4,800 square-foot drill hall, command staff offices, reserve unit administration spaces, medical and dental examination areas, six classrooms, a distance-learning center, a physical fitness room, and a quarterdeck.

"Reserve units on weekend duty come to the NOSC to take care of all personal matters," said Fryberger. "We provide the same support as Luke, except on a smaller scale. We even have medical and dental offices that reservists use on weekends. Our active-duty members, however, utilize Luke facilities weekdays."

The NOSC quickly settled in and got right to work despite obstacles they encountered.

"The move was a little challenging, but we pulled it off," Fryberger said. "We just had to pack up our admin papers, info, and personnel. Everything inside this building is brand new. One of the nice things is we didn't have to worry about packing the furniture from the other building."

Now that the Navy has finished setting up ship, both Airmen and Sailors will benefit from each other, DeWitt said.

"None of this could have been done without tremendous support from Naval Facilities Engineer Command Southwest and the 56th Civil Engineer Squadron from Luke," he said. "The Luke community has greeted the Navy with open arms."