JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM — Members of Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Pacific participated in the annual Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) Pacific Industry Forum (PIF) held Sept. 17-19 in Honolulu, Hawaii, which brings military and industry leaders together to discuss engineering challenges and opportunities in the Pacific region.
NAVFAC Pacific Commander Rear Adm. Jeff Kilian served as the keynote speaker and highlighted the vital importance of collaboration with industry partners, both large and small businesses.
“To execute all the upcoming work, especially in strategic locations, we must integrate the capabilities of NAVFAC, our military engineers, and our industry partners,” said Kilian. “The requirements scale is too large for military engineers alone, and every contractor, regardless of size, plays a key role in our strategy.”
Kilian added that in order to meet the growing construction demands in the Pacific region, a triad of cooperation between NAVFAC’s technical authorities, military engineers and industry partners needed to occur.
“Success hinges on the active participation of contracts from businesses of all sizes,” said Kilian. “Industry partners, from large corporations to small businesses, bring innovation and expertise essential to our mission. We encourage all contractors to be curious, ask questions, and participate in our initiatives. Your contributions are not just welcomed, they are critical.”
Kilian highlighted upcoming contracting opportunities, including multiple award construction contracts totaling over $30 billion and emphasized that these contracts are designed to include participation from both large and small businesses.
"These contracts offer a wide range of opportunities,” said Kilian. "We are committed to ensuring that small businesses have equitable access to compete and contribute to our mission. The collaboration between our military engineers and industry partners of all sizes not only builds infrastructure, but also fosters relationships and goodwill, and together we can make a lasting impact in the region.”
More than 500 participants attended the annual event, which included SAME sustaining and individual members, non-members, military and senior representatives throughout the Pacific region.
The event kicked off with welcoming remarks and updates by both the SAME Honolulu Post and SAME National presidents, followed by one-on-one meetings with military service branches. NAVFAC Pacific Deputy Commander for Operations Capt. Chris Coggins provided an overview of the Pacific region, followed by theater posture initiatives from Indo-Pacific Command.
The afternoon ended with keynote speaker Kilian and additional one-on-one meetings with NAVFAC representatives from environmental, planning, design and construction, operations, contracting, public works and small business, followed by a PIF summary and closing remarks.
NAVFAC is the technical expert and acquisition authority for naval shore facilities, base operating support, and expeditionary engineering systems. The mission of NAVFAC Pacific is to plan, build and maintain sustainable facilities, expertly delivering utilities, engineering, environmental and acquisition services to our supported commanders. NAVFAC Pacific serves as the engineering link between the shore and the Fleet within the Indo-Pacific Region.