Navy cuts to affect Gulfport Seabee Base - WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

Navy cuts to affect Gulfport Seabee Base

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GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) -

Huge cuts are coming to U.S. Navy bases around the globe. Navy brass has sent a memo to all bases outlining deep cuts needed as Congress faces the next fiscal crisis.

Immediately, the Navy must cut $4.6 billion. That means all civilian hiring is frozen, halting repair and construction projects at bases around the world and cutting spending up to 50 percent in some areas.    

It's not clear how the cuts will impact the Seabee Base. Officials there told WLOX News they're not commenting on the directive from Washington. 

In 2011, the Seabee base reported it had an economic impact on the coast economy topping $1 billion. Last fall, one of the Naval Mobile Construction Battalions based in Gulfport was decommissioned.   

Navy bases everywhere must cut operating costs, limit purchasing and even training missions. If Congress doesn't act by March, even deeper cuts loom including furloughing civilian workers and even canceling some deployments to the Caribbean, South America and even to Europe. 

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