Last month, the Center for Security Forces announced that its former Learning Site Gulfport, located in Gulfport, Mississippi, is now Detachment Gulfport. The transition results from several years of planning and coordination between key commands.

Capt. Doug Pegher, the Center for Security Forces Commanding Officer, said, “This transition would not have been possible without the assistance and support of the Naval Construction Training Center. They have provided student control and management for Expeditionary Combat Skills students for years. We relied on their experience and expertise to ensure this transition happened in a controlled manner to avoid disruptions to training. I can’t fully express my gratitude for their patience throughout this process.”

“The benefit of being a detachment enables the staff at Gulfport to conduct student control and management independently under the authority of an Officer in Charge,” said Lt. Cmdr. Michael Manaskie, the CENSECFOR director of manpower and administration.

The CENSECFOR Detachment Gulfport is responsible for delivering the U.S. Navy’s Expeditionary Combat Skills course, a 26-day course of instruction that teaches individual skills necessary for naval personnel to execute high-risk expeditionary combat operations. In terms of annual throughput, Detachment Gulfport is CENSECFOR’s third-largest learning activity.

In addition to the increased authority that comes with being a detachment, the staff will also see an increase with the addition of about ten new members.

“The primary driver was the disestablishment of Training Support Centers conducting that conducted student control functions. As a result, student management functions were reassigned to most learning activities,” said Manaskie.

The CENSECFOR team worked closely with the Naval Education and Training Command, the Center for Seabees and Facility Engineering, and the Navy Construction Training Center Gulfport to ensure there were no seams in the transition process that would impact training at what is now Detachment Gulfport.

“The goal of this command structure realignment was to achieve CENSECFOR unity of command between ECS staff and students, said Naval Construction Training Center Gulfport Commanding Officer, Capt. Weurielus Johnson. “Shifting the ECS student management to CENSECFOR Detachment Gulfport allowed NCTC Gulfport to fully focus on their mission and CENSECFOR to fully implement ECS ‘Sailorization’ and readying their students for expeditionary environments."

Manaskie also shared that the CENSECFOR team is reviewing the possibility of transitioning other learning sites within its domain to detachment status.

The Center for Security Forces provides specialized training to more than 20,000 students annually. It has 14 training locations across the United States and worldwide, carrying the motto: "Where Training Breeds Confidence."