It’s not often when facilities leaders break bread with fellow veterans like Gen. Colin Powell and former Marine drill instructor and later the famous actor R. Lee Ermey, known for his iconic role in the movie Full Metal Jacket. But 2025 Facility Champion Wright Davis has, and he will never forget the experiences.
Some of those discussions even included work, and Davis’s role as the facilities director to the Commandant for the U.S. Navy, an institution he has been associated with for well over 40 years.
“I know they are both gone, but I looked up to both of them as great leaders,” Davis says when asked who he would like to meet for dinner. “I was at a military symposium and Gen. Powell was the keynote speaker and he gave us some great anecdotes about military housing and maintenance and how important it was to him and his family.”
Davis started in the Navy as a cook in the 1980s, but he soon found himself transitioning into the facilities realm, first as a Damage Control Petty Officer that focused on preventive maintenance and ship repairs, followed by various assignments both onshore and offshore that included managing a Naval air station in Bermuda and Naval facilities in Italy, where he helped manage the demolition of earthquake-damaged buildings. That time was also highlighted by the time he spent contributing to the design of the USS Mitscher while it was built in Mississippi.
After entering the civilian world as maintenance worker in Florida, Davis found his way back to the Navy to his current position to manage the Commandant’s facilities as the facilities director the last 20 years.
His job consists of managing 20 buildings including the world’s biggest dormitory, Bancroft Hall. The hall is a 100-plus-year-old building that houses 4,500 Midshipmen and includes services such as restaurants, shops, shooting ranges, chapels, medical facilities and a theater.
“During my tenure we have upgraded and performed small remodel jobs to keep it up with the needs of the Navy and its demanding student body,” Davis says. “However, many parts of the building are original or very old and in need of refurbishment or replacement.”
Bringing that building up to standards is Davis’s primary focus these days. The remodel includes removing lead paint from the rotunda and Memorial Hall, public areas of the building.
“The goal of this major renovation is to ensure the building will last another 100 years,” he says.
Among the many lessons he’s learned along the way, Davis has learned to emphasize the small stuff. While it’s the projects like Bancroft Hall that the public and student body will most notice, it’s the behind-the-scenes activities that have helped Davis emerge as an important cog in the facility wheel inside the Navy Academy’s walls in Annapolis, Maryland.
“Learn lots of the small stuff in addition to becoming a rocket scientist, fighter pilot, brain surgeon and facilities director,” he suggests. “Things like how to change a tire, jumpstart a car, remove a dead mouse, clean an air conditioning vent, empty a trash can, etc. I’ve learned that the small things people know can make them the hero. Or champion. The small things they don’t know can make them miserable. Be well rounded.”
Davis is the third of the eight 2025 Facility Champions who will be profiled on FacilitiesNet leading up to the webcast, “FM Innovation and Evolution: A Facility Champions Discussion” that will honor the recipients. The webcast will air on November 6 at 1 p.m. ET on FacilitiesNet. You can register to view the webcast here.
Dave Lubach is the executive editor for the facilities market.
