From April to June, the U.S. Navy Reserve and the Air National Guard partnered with the Southwest Indian Foundation (SWIF) to build homes for homeless Navajo families and veterans in Gallup, New Mexico. This joint civil engineering support activity consisted of the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 25, the 144th Civil Engineering Squadron (CES), 154th CES, 118th CES, the 210th Red Horse Squadron, and the Navajo Housing Authority.
The Navajo Nation, in need of housing for homeless Navajo veteran families, has been working with the Innovation Readiness Training (IRT) program for over 20 years. This year, through the IRT Program, 76 UNSR Seabees and 28 Airmen provided various construction disciplines, including concrete, framing, plumbing, and electrical. They erected a three-bedroom, one-bath, rambler-style residence overlooking the desert landscape. At the completion of the support activity, the Navajo family will be days away from the initial move-in.
The support activity, despite facing challenges such as material latency, weather impacts, and equipment malfunction, made a significant impact on the Navajo Nation. Service members, in collaboration with SWIF and the Navajo Housing Authority, brought the home to 98% completion, including identifying and completing construction tasks with available materials. By the end of the support activity, Service members received 10,980 hours of valuable training across 10 Seabee skills supporting the Battalions Construction Training Exercise (CTX) and certification for their Unit Level Training and Readiness Assessment (ULTRA). The support activity also provided approximately $700,000 of fair market value to Navajo Nation, a testament to the positive change that can be achieved through such joint efforts.
To find out more, visit irt.defense.gov.
#InnovativeReadinessTraining | #IRTSupportActivity | #IRT | #NewMexico | #IRT_Construction | #IRT_CivilEngineering | #FY24OperationFootprint | #NavyReserve | #AirNationalGuard
