Capt. Paul Marconi is hitting the ground running and already formulating community relations plans as the new commanding officer of Naval Base Point Loma.
Capt. Mark Patton, the exiting commanding officer, has been promoted to chief of staff of the Navy Installation Command in Washington D.C., according to Navy officials.
Marconi officially assumed command on Tuesday, July 1 following a formal change of command ceremony June 30 at the base, during which Navy officials and community representatives bade farewell to Patton and welcomed Marconi.
As part of his new command, Marconi said he is charged with the day-to-day operation of the base’s facilities and security measures.
Along with such responsibility, Marconi inherits several recent and longstanding community issues surrounding the base, including a 1.5-million-gallon fuel leak underneath the base and the pending influx of thousands of personnel, families and assets associated with the closure of Naval Station Ingleside, Texas under the Base Realignment and Closure Commission Act.
The influx is expected to begin later this year.
Marconi said the base’s infrastructure can support the estimated 1,000 families because the base once housed and supported many more people than it does now.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure we have the support for these folks when they come up here and that it’s quality support,” Marconi said.
An environmental assessment report done in May 2007 found the move of several thousand people would have no significant impact, according to a statement from Naval Base Point Loma.
Along with the influx of more employees and their families, Marconi will also guide an estimated $1.5 million gallon fuel plume recovery effort previously headed up by Patton.
District 2 Councilman Kevin Faulconer said he’s had the opportunity to speak with Marconi, adding that he wants to schedule a public meeting within the next few months for an update on the fuel plume recovery system.
“I expressed to him how important, from my perspective, open dialogue and communication are and the ability to work closely with our Peninsula neighbors,” Faulconer said.
Though only a few days into his position, Marconi said he wants to continue having public meetings about the progress of the fuel plume recovery system and other issues.
“I want to continue all that and take the organization to the next level of excellence and push forward some of the projects he [Patton] got funded,” Marconi said.
Included in those projects are the expansion of an on-base parking garage scheduled for construction next month and additional housing that would accommodate about 240 sailors. The housing project is already under way, he said.
Graduating from Tufts University in 1984 with a degree in chemical engineering, Marconi was commissioned from the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps, according to Marconi’s biographical statement.
Among his many personal decorations for service, Marconi said he’s most proud of the recognition he received during his command of the USS Olympia, during which he successfully completed two 6-month deployments in the Western Pacific in 2003 and 2005, he said.
Marconi comes from the Pentagon, where he was last stationed in the office of the secretary of defense.
Along with his wife and two children, he said he hopes to stay in San Diego past his expected 3-year stint with Naval Base Point Loma.
“My wife and I always wanted to come to San Diego and in the long term we would want to stay,” he said. “So we’re very happy [and] we’re looking forward to it.”
Marconi was stationed in San Diego about 10 years ago, he said.