An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

This Week in Seabee History (September 22 - 28)

Sept. 22, 2019 | By ggranger
Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Historian, Naval History and Heritage Command [caption id="attachment_14949" align="alignnone" width="640"]
14949
VIRIN: 170921-N-ZY182-4949
Members of a Seabee Team in 1963 show off their rates. These teams could be tailored to fit any size task, but normally consisted of one junior Civil Engineer Corps officer, eleven construction men and a hospital corpsman. The crew and equipment utilized by these highly mobile, air transportable construction units provided disaster relief and technical assistance around the world. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

The Foundation of Diego Garcia

By 1983 the only Seabee unit remaining on Diego Garcia was a detachment of NMCB 62. The departure of this detachment in September 1983 ended twelve years of priority effort on the island that included some 220 projects for the Navy and Air Force, valued in excess of $200 million. The work the Seabees completed on Diego Garcia since 1971 represented the largest peacetime construction effort in their history. Diego Garcia was the major Seabee construction effort of the 1970s and they acquitted themselves well under the difficult and isolated conditions that exist there. When the Seabees arrived they lived in tent camps, when they departed they left a fully-developed, modern military facility, capable of supporting thousands of U.S. personnel.

September 22

1965: NMCB 3 was relieved by NMCB 5 in RVN. 1989: Hurricane "Hugo" struck the Charleston, South Carolina, area, killing 26 people and causing $5.9 billion of damage. Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5 and 133, home-ported at the Naval Construction Battalion Center, Gulfport, Mississippi; and Construction Battalion Unit 412 at Charleston immediately moved to provide disaster relief to both the military and civilian communities. [caption id="attachment_17196" align="alignnone" width="618"]
17196
A home is heavily damaged near the coast of South Carolina following Hurricane Hugo coming ashore near Charleston, South Carolina, September 22, 1989. Hurricane Hugo resulted in the deaths of 27 South Carolinians and is considered one of the costliest weather events to impact the state. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
17196
890923-Z-OO999-001
A home is heavily damaged near the coast of South Carolina following Hurricane Hugo coming ashore near Charleston, South Carolina, September 22, 1989. Hurricane Hugo resulted in the deaths of 27 South Carolinians and is considered one of the costliest weather events to impact the state. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
Photo By: Lt. Col. Cindi King
VIRIN: 180914-N-ZY182-7196
A home is heavily damaged near the coast of South Carolina following Hurricane Hugo coming ashore near Charleston, South Carolina, September 22, 1989. Hurricane Hugo resulted in the deaths of 27 South Carolinians and is considered one of the costliest weather events to impact the state. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. (Photo by Lt. Col. Cindi King) 2007: Cmdr. Frederick Mucke, CEC, was relieved by Cmdr. Ronald Gruzesky, CEC, as commander, NMCB 24, at the Readiness Support Site Drill Center, Huntsville, Alabama.

September 23

1943: 116th NCB commissioned at NCTC Camp Endicott, Davisville, RI. 1965: The main body of NMCB 3, after being relieved by NMCB 5, returned to homeport via six Military Air Transport Service (MATS) aircraft. 1967: The main body of NMCB 133 departed RVN and returned to the Construction Battalion center (CBC), Gulfport, Mississippi. 2011: Adm. Michael Mullen presented Brooke Toner, widow of Lt. j.g. Francis Toner IV, CEC, with her late husband s Silver Star, awarded for action against the enemy as Garrison Engineer, Camp Mike Spann Embedded Training Team, Afghanistan. Toner was also posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor.

September 24

1943: ACORN 13 arrived at Espiritu Santo. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.) 1945: The 69th NCB was inactivated at Davisville, Rhode Island; the 14th Special NCB was inactivated at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 1967: The first flight of NMCB 128 s advance party arrived in Da Nang, RVN. 2010: Cmdr. Tim DeWitt, CEC, relieved Cmdr. Glenn Hubbard, CEC, as commanding officer, NMCB 40 at Forward Operating Base Deh Dadi II, Afghanistan. [caption id="attachment_14932" align="alignnone" width="618"]
14932
VIRIN: 170918-N-ZY182-4932
Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40 conducts a change of command ceremony in Deh Dadi II, Afghanistan Sept. 24, 2010. Cmdr. Tim DeWitt (left) assumed command from Cmdr. Glenn Hubbard (center) who hands the battalion flag to Command Master Chief Corey Heinrich during the ceremony. (Photo by MCC Michael Watkins)

September 25

1951: Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 8 was activated. 1965: Cmdr. W.F. Russell, Civil Engineer Corps (CEC), commanding officer of NMCB 5, assumed command of Camp Hoover, Republic of Vietnam (RVN). 1967: Advance party of NMCB 133 departed Da Nang, RVN for Construction Battalion Center (CBC), Gulfport, Mississippi. 1969: Seabee Team 0314 deployed from Agana, Guam, to Rota Island, Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands (TTPI).

September 26

1967: NMCB 10 headquarters unit arrived at Gia Le, RVN.

September 28

1945: 39th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) inactivated on Saipan. 1967: NMCB 9 main body, consisting of 18 officers and 652 Seabees, deployed to Da Nang, RVN, on seven C-141 aircraft. 1968: NMCB 3 main body convoyed from Camp Faulkner to Camp Haskins South, Da Nang, RVN.

Feb. 20, 2024

This Week in Seabee History: February 19-25

Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage CommandFebruary 191943: 120th

Feb. 20, 2024

This Week in Seabee History: February 12-18

Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage CommandFebruary 121951: Naval

Feb. 8, 2024

This Week in Seabee History: February 5-11

Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage CommandFebruary 61943: 85th

Feb. 8, 2024

This Week in Seabee History: January 29 - February 4

Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage CommandJanuary 291944: 146th

Feb. 8, 2024

his Week in Seabee History: January 22-28

Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage CommandJanuary 221943: 76th

Feb. 8, 2024

his Week in Seabee History: January 15-21

January 151943: 4th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) commissioned.1944: 21st and 22nd NCRs

Feb. 8, 2024

This Week in Seabee History: January 8-14

Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage CommandJanuary 81943: 64th Naval

Feb. 8, 2024

This Week in Seabee History January 1-7

Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage CommandJanuary 11946: The

Feb. 8, 2024

This Week in Seabee History December 25-31

Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage CommandDecember 25December

Dec. 21, 2023

This Week in Seabee History-December 18 - 24

Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage CommandDecember 181942: 49th