ROOSEVELT ROADS HISTORY AND FACTS

U.S. Naval Station Roosevelt Roads is located at the eastern edge of Puerto Rico. Its land mass consists of 31,000 acres: 8,600 acres on the island of Puerto Rico and 22,400 acres on Vieques Island, seven and one half miles Southeast of the main station. President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the construction of the facility in 1940. It was completed in 1943 and Roosevelt Roads was commissioned as a U.S. Naval Operations Base. It serves as both a training facility and base for Navy ships and aircraft during Word War II.

For several years after the war, Roosevelt Roads languished and was closed down seven different times. Then in 1955, as Cold War tensions increased, Roosevelt Roads became the site for the establishment of the Atlantic Fleet Guided Missile Training Center, now known as Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility, and was redesignated as Roosevelt Roads in 1957, consisting of an airfield, Surface Operations and an industrial complex.

The initial build-up and expansion of Roosevelt Roads included the acquisition of the Army's Fort Bundy, which now comprises the Southern portion of the naval station.

Today, Roosevelt Roads role is training and service to the fleet. In addition to the 17 NAVSTA departments, there are 24 tenant commands, including the following: Commander, Naval forces South (NAVSOUTH), Commander Special Forces Command, South (SOCSOUTH), Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility (AFWTF), U.S. Naval Hospital, U.S. Naval Dental Center, Fleet Composite Squadron EIGHT (VC-8), U.S. Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station (NAVCOMTELSTA), Naval Special Warfare Unit FOUR (NSWU-4), Personal Support Activity Detachment (PSD), Resident Officer in Charge of Construction (ROICC), Naval Warfare Assessment Center, U.S. Naval Atlantic Meteorology Oceanography Detachment, Naval Media Center, Naval Legal Services Office (NLSO), Mobile Diving Salvage Unit TWO Detachment, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Fleet Imaging Facilities Detachment Atlantic, U.S. Army Reserve Center, U.S. Naval Reserve Center, U.S. Marine Reserve Center, USCG Patrol Boat Support Detachment. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and Antilles Consolidated Schools.

Naval Station Roosevelt Roads has an 11,000-foot runway, 9 piers, a water treatment plant, 4 sewage treatment plants, 110 miles of road, 42 miles of oceanfront, 1,340 buildings and approximately 194,000 square miles of ocean for naval exercises. Over 250,000 visitors annually benefit from Roosevelt Roads military and natural assets.

Although there aren't any Navy ships home ported at Roosevelt Roads, up to 1,000 military (U.S., foreign and NATO) and maritime ships use the facilities and ranges at Roosevelt Roads annually.

Roosevelt Roads is the largest naval station in the world (by land mass). Roosevelt Roads supports over 17,000 people including: 3,000 active duty military, 2,500 family members, 3,850 civilian employees and over 7,990 retired military. Naval Station Roosevelt Roads contributes an estimated $250 million per year to the economy of Puerto Rico.