Marine leaders cite billions in base work, warn of security and workforce strains

Senior Marine Corps leaders and city and county officials used the Chamber luncheon to describe how base investments and local partnerships support both national readiness and the regional economy.

Lede: Colonel Greg Pace and other Marine commanders described recent infrastructure milestones and future investments, including what they framed as roughly $3 billion tied to Hurricane Florence recovery and an announced push to execute $1.6 billion in barracks modernization this fiscal cycle; speakers also said about $4 billion in MILCON work is anticipated over the next two years.

Security and resilience: commanders warned of single points of failure—energy, water and fuel—and described resilience exercises such as operating a base day‑long without power to stress procedures. They flagged drone incursions as a growing problem and said local law enforcement and sheriff’s offices are supporting airspace monitoring. The base and local governments are pursuing infrastructure readiness reviews and intergovernmental planning under the 'fight the base' readiness initiative.

Economic effects and constraints: leaders emphasized the local economic impact of MILCON, with recent projects returning hundreds of millions to the local economy, but they also said the scale of upcoming construction strains local capacity and will require contractors and skilled tradespeople that are currently in short supply.

Why it matters: base readiness directly intersects with Onslow County’s economy and public safety planning: investments create jobs and demand for local services, while security or utility disruptions would have operational and community consequences.

What’s next: military and civilian partners said they will continue resilience planning, bolster intergovernmental agreements and publicize planned investments to attract contractors and skilled labor.