Tensions between junior sailors and Navy leaders cooled this week, much like San Diego's high temperatures, after the service eased its strict ban on personal air conditioners in an aging base barracks.
A Navy spokesperson told KPBS in an email late Wednesday the service is working to mitigate conditions in the barracks during hot weather.
"We are alleviating impacts on residents experiencing excessive temperatures during heat waves by offering temporary relocation opportunities, planned limited use of personal ACs where possible and cooling zones at installation sites," Brian O'Rourke, a San Diego Navy spokesperson, told KPBS.
The affected building on the base, Building 635, doesn't have central air conditioning, O'Rourke said.
KPBS previously reported that, at the height of this month's heat wave, leaders at Naval Base Point Loma notified residents of the building they had one week to remove unauthorized personal air conditioners.
As local temperatures soared to 93 degrees Sept. 8, base officials swept each barracks room and confiscated any unauthorized coolers — actions a Navy spokesperson later confirmed to KPBS.
"Naval Base Point Loma leadership advised sailors and tenant commands on the base that personal portable AC units are prohibited," O'Rourke previously told KPBS. "They frequently trip circuit breakers and create a safety hazard."
As of Wednesday only one sailor who had their A/C removed during the sweep had accepted relocation to another building, O'Rourke said.
The base also moved four sailors to rooms where personal air conditioners could safely be used, O'Rourke said.
San Diego's September heat wave broke over the weekend. By Wednesday the temperature topped out at 78 degrees.
The building houses unaccompanied sailors, mostly ranked E-4 and below, who are assigned to San Diego-based submarines.
The Navy plans on updating the affected building, records show.
President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, passed in the summer of 2025, gave the Pentagon $1 billion to upgrade unaccompanied housing across the military.
This spring the Navy finished an environmental assessment for an unaccompanied housing improvement project — Pacific Beacon Phase II. The project includes unaccompanied housing improvements at several local bases — including those at the base in Point Loma.
The project expands private unaccompanied housing similar to the Pacific Beacon towers built at Naval Base San Diego 20 years ago.
There is one significant difference between the 2006 project and the current one — a monthslong delay.
A Finding of No Significant Impact, or FOSNI, on the environmental assessment for Pacific Beacon Phase I was signed in November 2006, the Navy's report says.
Demolition and construction stared just one month later — in December 2006.
The Navy Region Southwest commander signed the current FOSNI for Pacific Beacon Phase II on April 23 — almost five months ago.
Work has yet to begin on the project.
The Navy didn't immediately respond to questions about the discrepancy in timing between the two projects.
