On August 31, 1842, the Bureau of Navy Yards and Docks (BuDocks) was established, the forerunner to the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command.

[2] In early days of BuDocks, the command originally had responsibility only for the design, construction, and maintenance of Navy yards and a few other shore stations.

[2] During the second half of the 19th century, the Bureau of Yards and Docks guided the temporary expansion of the shore establishment that was necessary to fight the American Civil War.

It also oversaw the development of permanent Navy yards on the Pacific Coast at Mare Island, California, and Puget Sound, Washington.

Its civilian workforce grew from seven to 22 people and the Civil Engineer Corps—which had been established in 1867—was expanded from 10 to 21 commissioned officers, five of whom reported for duty at Bureau Headquarters.

[2] During the early years of the 20th century, the United States Congress expanded the Bureau's responsibilities by consolidating Navy public works under its control.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Congress appropriated some money for a naval construction program, which made improvements in shore facilities while providing much-needed jobs for unemployed civilians.

When the Second World War broke out in Europe in 1939, the Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) had fewer than 200 officers on active duty and the shore establishment was woefully unprepared for a major conflict.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Navy's military construction program amounted to global proportions, expanding far beyond the continental United States and its prewar possessions to Europe, North Africa, Asia and the far corners of the Pacific.

The establishment of bases in war zones, where workers were subject to enemy attack, made the use of civilian construction men impractical at many overseas locations.

Led by Reserve CEC officers, the 325,000 men recruited for the Seabees during World War II built bases on six continents and at locations all over the Pacific.

For fiscal year 1981, President Jimmy Carter requested an increase in the Department of Defense budget of more than 5 percent real growth.

This expansion meant that the Navy needed more shore facilities to support the new ships, which in turn led to more construction work for NAVFAC.

By the end of fiscal year 2004, the Command had helped the Navy dispose of 72 unneeded bases and had an inventory of 19 closed installations remaining to be excessed.

It made a major move towards improving and standardizing its business processes to help NAVFAC better support the Navy and Marine Corps and other federal clients.

The FECs provide the Navy, Marine Corps, and other clients with a single center for all NAVFAC public works, engineering, and acquisition support to ensure a uniform, enterprise approach to accomplishing its mission.

Southern Division in Charleston, South Carolina was decommissioned on September 30, 2007 and the command was realigned in Jacksonville, Florida, to become NAVFAC Southeast.