New Chief Named at Naval Center

Capt. Donald G. Morris will relieve Capt. John P. Collins as commanding officer of the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center at the Seabee base in Port Hueneme.

A formal change of command ceremony will be held Tuesday at the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion Center.

Collins has led the command since June 1994, when he transferred from a post at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. He will return to the East Coast as director of corporate management for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Washington, D.C.

Morris comes to Ventura County from duty at the command in the nation’s capital, where he has served since July 1994.

Morris is also the former public works officer and officer in charge of construction at the battalion center. A registered electrical engineer in Pennsylvania, Morris and his wife will live in Ventura.

The Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center is the fifth-largest naval command in Ventura County. The duties of its 500 engineers, scientists, technicians and support staff include ocean engineering and amphibious logistic support to the Navy and Marine Corps.

Earlier this year, the center moved from a group of outmoded buildings on a 33-acre site adjacent to the Port of Hueneme to a state-of-the-art, $20-million office building on the Seabee base. As part of defense downsizing, the site is due to be transferred to the port and city.