Naval Station Everett

Naval Station Everett is a military installation located in the city of Everett, Washington, 25mi north of Seattle. The naval station, located on the city's waterfront on the northeastern end of Puget Sound, was designed as a homeport for a US Navy carrier strike group and opened in 1994. A separate Navy Support Complex is located in Smokey Point, 11mi north of Everett near Marysville, and houses a commissary, Navy Exchange, a college and other services.NAVSTA Everett is home to two Guided-Missile Destroyers, a Coast Guard Keeper-class cutter, and a USCG Marine Protector Class Patrol Boat,. There are about 6,000 sailors and civil service persons assigned to commands located at Naval Station Everett. The Naval Station itself has about 350 sailors and civilians assigned.HistoryBackgroundAlthough a Naval Reservation existed previously at the site, the history of Naval Station Everett began in 1983 when Secretary of the Navy John Lehman first proposed a new Puget Sound-area naval base as part of the Strategic Homeport concept. In the early 1980s, Congress approved the strategic homeporting initiative to build additional bases and disperse the fleet from the main concentration areas. The strategic homeport program enjoyed the support of not only of the House and Senate but of the Reagan Administration and the Department of Defense. It was decided in 1985 that the strategic homeport program was the best method for implementing the militarily-sound principles of dispersal, battlegroup integrity, and increasing the naval presence in the geographic flanks.