Abstracts Psychology

The effects of regionalization on the power and authority of shore installation commanding officers

by David S. Kemp

This research examines the manner in which the United States Navy's Infrastructure Cost Reduction initiative, i.e., regionalization, has affected traditional relationships that Installation Commanding Officers have with people assigned to their bases and with other Commanding Officers in the same region. It includes descriptions of the pre-regionalization and post-regionalization command structures in Navy Region Southwest, the process by which regionalization was implemented, and an extensive literature review on the theory of executive power and authority. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven Installation Commanding Officers and members of their chains of command in Navy Region Southwest to ascertain their perceptions of the effects of regionalization on the power and authority of an Installation Commanding Officer. This paper draws conclusions and offers recommendations about the erosion of the traditional power and authority of Shore Installation Commanding Officers to accomplish their responsibilities, the training and selection of Shore Installation Commanding Officers, and communications challenges that exist in a regionalized environment.