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Roosevelt Roads Naval Station

Coordinates: 18°14′17″N 65°37′40″W / 18.23806°N 65.62778°W / 18.23806; -65.62778
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Roosevelt Roads Naval Station
Ceiba in Puerto Rico, United States
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station from the air, 1997
Site information
OwnerUnited States Navy
Location
Roosevelt Roads NS is located in Puerto Rico
Roosevelt Roads NS
Roosevelt Roads NS
Location in Puerto Rico
Coordinates18°14′17″N 65°37′40″W / 18.23806°N 65.62778°W / 18.23806; -65.62778
Site history
Built1943
In use1943–2004
Airfield information
IdentifiersIATA: NRR[1], ICAO: TJNR, FAA LID: NRR
Elevation38 feet (12 m) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
07/25 11,000 feet (3,353 m) Concrete
18/36 5,800 feet (1,768 m) Concrete

Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, nicknamed Rosy Roads,[2][3] is a former United States Navy base in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico. The site operates today as José Aponte de la Torre Airport, a public use airport.

Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Maryland, Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, 1997

History

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In 1919, future US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, toured Puerto Rico, visiting Ceiba. When he returned to the White House, he expressed a liking for the terrain where the base was to be located. This was during the World War I-era, and the US could benefit from an airfield in Ceiba. While Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth, its territorial rights belong to the US, which made it feasible for the US government to build an air base in Ceiba.[4]

It took many years for the US to become convinced of the need for an air base in Ceiba. When Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany began to invade other European countries, the US, led by then President Roosevelt, considered the idea of a naval air station in Ceiba. With war in the European and Pacific theatres, they saw an airbase in the Caribbean as necessary. President Roosevelt ordered the creation of the base in 1940. In 1941, $50 million (equivalent to $799 million in 2024) was appropriated to develop a protected anchorage in the sea area between Puerto Rico and Vieques, an area later named Roosevelt Roads by Navy Secretary Frank Knox on 15 May 1941.[5] On 22 August 1941, President Roosevelt signed a naval works among other things, authorized another $21.97 million (equivalent to $470 million in 2024) for a protected fleet anchorage at Roosevelt Roads.[6]

In 1957, it was upgraded to Naval Station status. Fort Bundy was located there, but it crossed over to parts of Vieques, a fact that became important in the future. A US military mission, the M3, was located there. It was part of the "Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station, Puerto Rico Base Communication Department". M3 had a fleet center, a technical control facility and a Tactical support communications department among other things. The M3 was designated to help Puerto Rico, the US and other Caribbean and Latin American countries to deal with drug trafficking, illegal immigration and other problems. The main purpose of the base was tactical support for land/sea/air maneuvers at the Naval Training Range in Vieques.

In 1969, the US Navy established Camp Moscrip which held a rotating US Navy Construction Battalion (Seabee).[7]

Within the industrial area the drydock, a bombproof power plant, a sewage pumping station, and a machine shop were completed. The drydock, 1100 by 155 feet, and built in the dry, was first used in July 1943. The power plant, a bombproof structure with 4-foot-thick concrete walls, was equipped with two 5,000-kw steam-driven generators. The drydock was dedicated on 15 February 1944, and the Bolles Drydock, in memory of Captain Harry A. Bolles, (CEC) USN, who was killed in Alaska in World War II.[8]

In January 2003, Admiral Robert J. Natter said that, with the upcoming closure of the Naval Training Range in Vieques, Roosevelt Roads was no longer needed by the Navy.[9] Later that year, a military appropriations bill required the Secretary of the Navy to close within six months of the enactment of the act.[10] The base officially closed on 31 March 2004.[11] At the time, there were nearly 1,200 active-duty officers and sailors at Roosevelt Roads.[11] United States Special Operations Command South moved from Roosevelt Roads to Homestead Air Reserve Base.[12] U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command moved from Roosevelt Roads to Mayport Naval Station.[13] Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 74 (Seabee) moved from Roosevelt Roads to Little Creek, Virginia.[7] When Roosevelt Roads closed, the only U.S. naval base in the Caribbean was the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.[14] From the time that Congress voted to close the base until its closure, Roosevelt Roads closed faster than any other military installation on US soil in several decades.[15] After its closure, 200 sailors and civilians remained to help in the transition from a naval base to a naval agency coordinating the closing process.[16]

Of the former base's property, about 30% was transferred to the government of Puerto Rico and its municipalities, 40% became a wetlands preserve, and the remainder was offered for sale at public auction.[17]

The future

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As of January 2009, approximately 2,900 acres (12 km2) of the former Naval Station was being marketed to the public by the Los Angeles group of Colliers International,[18] on behalf of the Navy's Base Realignment and Closure Program Management Office,[19] as a public auction to commence in the near future. The remaining portion is in the process of being conveyed to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and other Federal agencies in various stages. Since November 2008, Puerto Rico Ports Authority operates the José Aponte de la Torre Airport.[citation needed]

In 2012, the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station was under consideration as a possible location for the SpaceX private launch site, but was not selected.[20]


As of October 2018, Ricardo Rosselló's administration made it the launching port to Vieques and Culebra[21]

In mid-March 2020, José Aponte Hernández, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico said he would request from Jenniffer González Colón, (the resident commissioner of Puerto Rico) for funds to restore a former hospital to operational status. What was discussed was the possibility of using the former hospital located on the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station to treat persons affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico.[22]


US Army Reserve, Army National Guard and remaining military activities

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Aerial view of Naval Station, Roosevelt Road

The Navy transferred Areas 55 and 63, approximately 53.77 acres of land, to US Army Garrison (USAG) Fort Buchanan in September 2009 for the Reserve Component of the United States Army that includes the existing Roosevelt Roads US Army Reserve Center and the Ceiba Armed Forces Reserve Center (AFRC). On November 2012 the US Army transferred the property from USAG Fort Buchanan to the US Army Reserve 81st Readiness Division.[23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Airline and Airport Code Search". IATA. Retrieved 21 June 2019. Search Location Code for NRR
  2. ^ "Puerto Rico braces for the base closing". The Washington Times. 1 April 2004. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  3. ^ Hiaasen, Carl (27 October 1983). "Tension builds at 'Rosy Roads'". San Francisco Examiner. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Record-breaking Naval Base Begun on Porto Rico Site". Associated Press. The Buffalo News. July 23, 1945. p. 2.
  5. ^ "Sea Roads Named After Roosevelt". The Washington Post. 16 May 1941. p. 11.
  6. ^ "Roosevelt Signs Naval Works Bill: Act Will Add $225,000,000 in Shore and Island Facilities of Atlantic and Pacific". The New York Times 23 August 1941. p. 6.
  7. ^ a b Mason, Landon (1 April 2003). "Roosevelt Roads Bids Farewell to Seabees". United States Navy. Archived from the original on 4 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Building the Navy's Bases, vol. 2 (part III)". history.navy.mil/. US Navy. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. ^ "Navy Makes Plans Without Vieques". Associated Press. Los Angeles Times. January 12, 2003. p. A24.
  10. ^ Brown, David (6 October 2003). "Lawmakers order Rosie Roads to close in 2004; Other major actions of conference include funding approval for naval ships and aircraft". Navy Times. p. 28.
  11. ^ a b Faram, Mark D. (19 January 2004). "Goodbye, Rosie Roads: End of more than 100 years of naval ops off Puerto Rico". Navy Times. p. 16.
  12. ^ "SOCSOUTH announces move to Florida". Special Warfare (Fort Bragg). Vol. 16. Iss. 3. Feb 2004. p. 55.
  13. ^ Aguilar, Christopher F. (4 February 2004). "Southern Command's move to boost Mayport, economy". Florida Times Union (Jacksonville, Florida). p. L3.
  14. ^ Carrillo, Karen Juanita (25 February 2004). "Navy's left Vieques, now leaves Ceiba too". New York Amsterdam News. p. 6.
  15. ^ Quintanilla, Ray (31 March 2004). "Roosevelt Roads' Closure Worries Locals". Orlando Sentinel. p. A1.
  16. ^ Zuniga, Ricardo (2 April 2004). "Navy Transfers Control of Base in Puerto Rico to Special Agency Move Aims to Coordinate Shutdown". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. p. 2A.
  17. ^ Bauz, Vanessa (19 November 2006). "Big Projects Are on Board for Ex-Navy Base". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. p. J1.
  18. ^ "koleksi miniatur". Archived from the original on 19 January 2009.
  19. ^ bracpmo.org
  20. ^ Nield, George C. (April 2014). Draft Environmental Impact Statement: SpaceX Texas Launch Site (PDF) (Report). Vol. 1. Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Commercial Space Transportation. p. 87. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013.
  21. ^ "A punto de renacer Roosevelt Roads". El Nuevo Dia. 11 November 2018.
  22. ^ "Piden usar el antiguo hospital de Roosevelt Roads para coronavirus [Request to use the old hospital at Roosevelt Roads for coronavirus]". Primera Hora.
  23. ^ Cuebas, Carlos M. (1 June 2012). "Army Reserve investing big in Puerto Rico". U. S. Army. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
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