Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Rosalie Chang
Builder Constructionman Dustin Coleman (left), assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 4, communicates the Chemical, Biological and Radiological (CBR) response teams' location after a simulated chemical attack during Command Post Exercise (CPX) 3, Feb. 2, in Port Hueneme, California. The intent of CPX is to establish command, control, communication, computer and intelligence infrastructure to prepare for the battalion's upcoming field training exercise. (Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Rosalie Chang/170202-N-DH124-096)
Seabees assigned to U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 4 conducted Command Post Exercise (CPX) 3 on Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, Calif., Jan. 30 Feb. 2, as part of their Fleet Response Training Plan (FRTP).
The intent of the week long exercise was to establish command, control and communication procedures and infrastructure in preparation for the battalion s upcoming Field Training Exercise (FTX) and deployment to the Pacific Area of Responsibility (AOR), ultimately ensuring the battalion s readiness for major combat operations.
CPX 3 is a significant milestone from a training aspect to stress the battalion and provide training in areas of weakness while bolstering and honing skills in areas the battalion is already proficient when it comes to combat tactics and communication, said NMCB 4 Exercise Officer Lt. Grant Glover.
More than 200 Seabees participated in various scenarios to demonstrate effective and accurate communications across the command between the combat operation center, entry control point, company command posts and detachments. The training scenarios included simulated chemical, biological and radiological attacks, mass casualty drills and a camp intruder.
The biggest highlight for me was the battalion successfully demonstrating their ability to plan and execute with great efficiency, the movement of the entire battalion and achieve communications, command, and control, said Glover. I have not personally seen that endeavor attempted at the CPX 3 level of training; it was a pleasant surprise to see overall efficiency displayed for this particular scenario.
CPX is a series of training events that leads to the battalion's final graded Field Training Exercise (FTX), which certifies the battalion s readiness to deploy in support of major combat operations.
Like many training evolutions, there is a period typically at the beginning of each evolution where there are kinks to work through, especially in communications, said Glover. We experienced that on this exercise, but through a training suite of 94 individual scenarios, the battalion was able to recover very well and make their corrections to gain the required efficiency in each area graded.
NMCB 4 provides general engineering, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, and civil support to Navy, Marine Corps and joint operational forces through planned deployments and contingency response.