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This Week in Seabee History: September 19 - 25

Sept. 20, 2021 | By U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage Command

September 19

1943: The 114th NCB commissioned at Naval Construction Training Center (NCTC) Camp Endicott, Davisville, Rhode Island.
1944: The Army Distinguished Unit Citation was presented to the 40th NCB at Camp Parks, Shoemaker, California.
1967: A silver spike ceremony was held at the Liberty Bridge over Thu Bon River south of Da Nang, RVN. Lt. Gen. Hohang Xuam Lam, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), drove in the ceremonial spike. The 2,040-foot long bridge was built by NMCB 4.
1970: NMCB 1 departed Davisville, Rhode Island and assumed command of Camp Moscrip, Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Ricofrom NMCB 40.
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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 20

1942: The earliest Seabee regiment, Construction Regiment, Western Alaska, was established for construction work at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. It was later renamed the First Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) on Dec. 19, 1942.
1943: The 17th Special NCB formed at NCTC Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia.
1945: The 95th NCB was inactivated on Iwo Jima; the 26th NCR inactivated.
1965: Construction of the Camp Hansen U.S. Marine Facility, Okinawa was finished after 29 months by NMCBs 3, 9, and 11; also, NMCB 5's main body departed Port Hueneme, California for Camp Hoover, Da Nang, RVN.
1968: The main body of NMCB 53 arrived at Davisville, Rhode Island from Da Nang, RVN.
1970: The main body of NMCB 40 arrived at Davisville, Rhode Island from Camp Moscrip, Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico.

September 21

1943: The 123rd NCB was commissioned at NCTC Camp Endicott, Davisville, Rhode Island.
1950: During the Inchon offensive in Korea, a detachment of Seabee volunteers from Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 carried off an exploit typical of the many legends that have sprung up about the Seabees. Air observation reported eight locomotives trapped by broken rail lines in a switch yard at Yong Dong Po, eight miles above Inchon, Korea. A group of Seabees under a chief petty officer volunteered to go behind enemy lines and attempt to capture the engines. The Seabees sneaked down the line past enemy troops and seized the locomotives. However, when they reached the switch yard, they found a Kirin Brewery alongside the track. After thoughtful consideration, the Seabees decided to liberate not only the locomotives, but some of the beer stacked in the brewery. In quick time, the men had 15 cases of beer loaded aboard the locomotives. They then fired up the engine boilers and began the dangerous trek back to their lines. Along the way they had to repair broken track while under enemy fire. Even the United States Marines began shooting at the trains until they realized they were manned by Seabees. However, in true Seabee fashion, the men of ACB 1 brought back the liberated locomotives intact, as well as the liberated beer, no so intact.
1969: NMCB 3's main body deployed to Camp Kinser, Okinawa, via government aircraft.

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.
 
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.
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.
 
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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).
 

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