130909-N-TD630-002
Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3's Engineering Aide 1st Class Willie Blanding educates 25 Seabees on the battalion's administrative system during the first day of NMCB 3's Seabee Combat Warfare (SCW) Academy designed to provide all unqualified troops with the needed education to gain their qualification. One of the first battalions commissioned during World War II, NMCB 3's legacy stands strong in its ability to build and fight anywhere in the world as either a full battalion or as a group of autonomous detachments, simultaneously completing critical engineering and construction missions. For this deployment, NMCB 3 has split into 9 details to perform critical construction projects in remote island areas such as Timor-Leste, Tonga, Cambodia and the Philippines. The teams will also conduct operations in Atsugi, Yokosuka and Okinawa, Japan; Chinhae, Republic of Korea and China Lake, Calif. The Naval Construction Force is a vital component of the U.S. Maritime Strategy. They provide deployable battalions capable of providing disaster preparation and recovery support, humanitarian assistance and combat operations support. NMCB 3 provides combatant commanders and Navy component commanders with combat-ready warfighters capable of general engineering, construction and limited combat engineering across the full range of military operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Builder Constructionman Laine Pulfer).