NBVC change of command set for Feb. 24

Photo by Andrea Howry / Lighthouse

Capt. Jim McHugh looks over the new state-of-the-art kennel at Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme. The kennel opened in 2011. Watching are MA2 Adam Leeds and Foxy.

Photo by MC2 (SW) Karalie Moore / NBVC

Capt. Jim McHugh tests his mobility as he joins about two dozen other officers in learning the sport of wheelchair basketball during a U.S. Olympic Committee Paralympic Military Sports Camp at NBVC Port Hueneme in 2011.

Photo by Andrea Howry / Lighthouse

Capt. Jim McHugh looks over a replica of a bomb designed to look like a child's toy during a visit to the Home Station Training Lanes, a facility at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, where military and law enforcement personnel learn about improvised explosive devices.

Photo by Andrea Howry / Lighthouse

Capt. Jim McHugh, far right, plays wheelchair basketball with other officers during a demonstration game held in conjunction with a 2011 Wounded Warrior Training Camp at Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme.

Photo by Andrea Howry / Lighthouse

Capt. Jim McHugh shares breakfast with Sailors during an early-morning get-together at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu.

Photo by Andrea Howry / Lighthouse

Capt. Jim McHugh introduces wounded warriors during one of the two Wounded Warrior Half Marathons held at Naval Base Ventura County during McHugh's command.

Photo by Andrea Howry / Lighthouse

Capt. Jim McHugh congratulates MK2 Matthew Merel for winning the Military Men's division of the 2010 NBVC Surf Contest for two years in a row.

Photo by Andrea Howry / Lighthouse

Capt. Jim McHugh reads "Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?" to preschoolers at the Child Development Center at Port Hueneme as part of Dr. Seuss birthday celebrations in 2010.

Photo by Andrea Howry / Lighthouse

Capt. Jim McHugh cuts the ribbon at the Flightline Cafe in June of 2011. Looking on are Cmdr. Michael Obermiller, public works officer, and Deborah Williams, director of Community Support Programs.

Photo by Andrea Howry / Lighthouse

Drew Brees, quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, signs autographs for Capt. Jim McHugh and his daughters during a team visit to Point Mugu. The Saints trained in Oxnard in 2011.

He brought back the air show, oversaw the opening of new family housing in Camarillo and made sure workers at Point Mugu had a good place to eat.

Navy and Coast Guard wounded warriors can now train regularly for athletic competitions because he decided Naval Base Ventura County should be a permanent home for a training camp.

He opened a Pass and Decal Office outside the gates of Point Mugu.

And in between, Capt. Jim McHugh found time to put on the famous red-and-white striped hat from “The Cat in the Hat” and read Dr. Seuss favorites to preschoolers.

“It’s been a great three years,” McHugh said shortly before turning over his command of the base to Capt. Lawrence Vasquez and retiring from 26 years in the Navy. “It’s gone by fast.”

The change of command ceremony and McHugh's retirement ceremony will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 24, in Hangar 34 at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu. Vice Adm. William French, Commander, Navy Installations Command, Washington, D.C., will speak.

From creating new ties with the local community to mending some decade-old fences between Point Mugu and Port Hueneme, many of McHugh’s accomplishments since becoming commanding officer of NBVC in February of 2009 have dealt with building bridges and reinforcing old ones.

It’s been more than 10 years since aviation-based Point Mugu and Seabee-based Port Hueneme were reorganized into NBVC. San Nicolas Island (SNI) became part of the base a few years later. As a naval flight officer in an E-2C squadron, McHugh knew Point Mugu well; in fact, this was his third tour to Mugu. Port Hueneme was a different story, and he made it his goal to make sure both had equal footing at all levels.

“I have a great respect and understanding of the Seabees and the Civil Engineering Corps and what they do around the world,” McHugh said. “We’re here to support them. A big focus has been continuing to build a bridge between Port Hueneme and Point Mugu. I made sure to level the playing field as much as possible.”

All across Ventura County, he served on local boards, spoke at local schools and, as he put it, “continued to get the message of the Navy out to the community.”

“It’s a never-ending job telling people what we do and why it’s important,” he said. “We’re not some super-secret place. We are a vital part of the local economy and the local community.”

With 80 tenant commands, NBVC is the largest employer in Ventura County, responsible for 17,000 active duty and civilian personnel.

During the three years McHugh was the commanding officer, more than 200,000 people visited the base for public events, including the 2010 Air Show, two Seabee Days weekends, three Surf Contests, two 9/11 Memorial Motorcycle Ride to the Flags, the annual Mud Run and the highly acclaimed Haunted Swamp during Halloween.

McHugh also oversaw many improvements to the base. He’s especially proud of the realignment of Addor Road around the Navy Exchange parking lot at NBVC Port Hueneme, which eliminated a chaotic free-for-all that had been the site of several accidents.

“I’m glad we got that designed and had it accomplished,” he said.

He’s also proud of the Flightline, a restaurant that opened last June at NBVC Point Mugu, and of the recently reopened Pass and ID Office at Point Mugu, so visitors don’t have to drive the 10 miles to Hueneme to get a permit so they can enter the base.

McHugh also oversaw the opening of Catalina Heights, a 315-unit military housing development in Camarillo that had fallen into disrepair after more than six decades.

NBVC garnered many awards during McHugh’s tenure — for energy conservation, environmental protection and even food: Combined, the three NBVC galleys received six five-star ratings, and the Port Hueneme Galley won the highly coveted Capt. Edward F. Ney Memorial Award for Food Service Excellence in 2011.

Over the three years McHugh was in command, the base generated an 8.8 percent reduction in energy consumption and an astounding 32.8 percent reduction in water consumption, saving $6.2 million. As a result, NBVC earned the Secretary of the Navy Energy and Water Conservation Award at the Platinum level all three years.

McHugh has often said that when he took command, he didn’t realize he’d be in charge of 150,000 marine mammals. Add to that 500 known archeological sites, jurisdictional wetlands and seven endangered and listed species, and suddenly environmental protection becomes a big part of the job. McHugh made it a priority, and during his tenure, NBVC earned the 2010 SECNAV Large Installation Natural Resources Conservation Award; the 2009 Chief of Naval Operations Award for Environmental Restoration; and the 2009 CNO Natural Resources Conservation, Large Installation Award.

McHugh leaves the base — and the Navy — with mixed feelings. With wife Karen and daughters ages 10, 13 and 15, he didn’t want to be a geobachelor.

“You miss too much,” he said. “A friend told me once he was a stranger to his kids. I don’t want that.”

But at the same time, as the son of a Navy officer, he’s leaving a lifestyle he’s lived for 47 years.

“The camaraderie, the respect, the travel — it’s all what I was trained to do,” he says.

He’ll be staying in the area. Karen works for Lockheed-Martin, and his daughters are well-entrenched in local academics and sports.

Does he have any lessons learned, any advice for future officers?

“Learn from the experts,” he said. “Don’t compromise on your standards. And most of all, make sure you give a little rope to the people you work with.

“If you respect them, they’ll respect you.”