The Naval Station Newport (NS NPT)’s tenant command missions and operations depend on the resilience of its critical infrastructure and that of three host communities (Middletown, Portsmouth, Newport), which provide water, energy, communication, transportation, housing, emergency/medical services, schools, to this military base. Municipalities have individually addressed hazard concerns within Comprehensive Plans and Hazard Mitigation Plans and most recently through Municipal Resilience Plans. To date these have not explicitly addressed issues within NS NPT. Through a partnership between NS NPT, the City of Newport, and the University of Rhode Island, this project will engage a steering committee that includes all three neighboring municipalities, as well as key island and state leaders. 

Project Goals

• Protect and preserve military readiness and defense capabilities while supporting continued community economic development
• Enhance civilian and military communication and collaboration to improve readiness and response for future conditions
• Identify responsibilities and capabilities of key stakeholders 
• Pave the way for joint planning of priority capital improvement projects 

The Military Installation Resilience Review (MIRR) and implementation action plan will utilize state-of-the-art hydrodynamic storm models, linked with qualitative “consequence thresholds” data collected from facility managers to illuminate threats, impacts, and consequences of storm events and sea level rise to infrastructure in the study area. Key stakeholders will be engaged in focus groups using a scenario-based approach, developed in partnership with the US Naval War College. This project and its innovative approach will be developed so that it can be scaled and applied broadly to other U.S. military installations globally; this supports the City of Newport’s vision to be recognized as a hub of resilience innovation.