The U.S. Navy accepted ownership of the command headquarters building at Naval Support Facility (NSF) Deveselu, Sept. 3, the first permanent building completed at the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Facility (AAMDF).

Seeing the Beneficial Occupancy Date (BOD) arrive for such a key structure is a milestone in the base's transformation from a construction site to an established facility, said Capt. William Garren, NSF Deveselu's first commanding officer.

"This has been a long, hard road to get to this point, but we're really seeing things come together in a hurry," Garren said. "Getting into our work spaces is key to being able to move into the housing and dining facility, which we would like to do before the weather turns cold."

Most of the base's crew and personnel currently live in temporary wooden huts built by U.S. Navy Seabees. Temporary facilities also house several of the offices for the command and staff.

Final details of the headquarters' construction must still be completed before moving in, but the BOD agreement passes oversight of the building from the construction agent, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District, to the Navy.

This will allow the base to control access to the building, and install equipment and furniture before moving operations to the building in the coming weeks.

The $2.6-million, 8,000-square-foot building is key to the base's operation, housing the command offices as well as security operations.

As the first Navy shore installation since Everett, Washington, in 1987, NSF Deveselu was established Oct. 10, 2014 in south-central Romania. When completed, it will be home to about 200 U.S. civilians, military and contractors.

The AAMDF is part of Phase II of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) to ballistic-missile defense. Utilizing the U.S. Navy's proven at-sea missile defense capability adapted for shore application, the plan for EPAA builds on the Standard Missile-3 now deployed around the world.

Construction on a second AAMDF in Poland is scheduled to begin soon, with projected operational status in 2018.

For more news from Commander, Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia, visit www.navy.mil/.