Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage Command
May 10
1943: 121st NCB activated at Marine Corps Camp Lejeune, New River, North Carolina.
1944: ACORN 22 dissolved and absorbed into Naval Air Base, Eniwetok. (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each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn.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.)
1946: 35th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) inactivated; 23rd NCB inactivated on Guam; 54th NCB inactivated at Mactan, Philippines.
1965: The 30th NCR was commissioned at Da Nang, RVN, under the commander of Captain Harold Liberty, CEC, as the planning arm of the Pacific Fleet Seabees (COMCBPAC) in Southeast Asia.
1969: Seabee Team 0914 deployed to RVN on a C-130 aircraft from Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa.
1971: Headquarters of CBMU 302 was moved from Cam Ranh Bay to Bien Hoa, RVN.
May 11
1942: The 4th NCB commissioned at NCTC Camp Allen, Norfolk, Virginia.
1944: The CEC Officers School (CECOS) opened at Camp Endicott, Rhode Island after having been moved from Camp Peary, Virginia.
1967: The NMCB 7 advance party of five officers and 97 men deployed to Da Nang, RVN aboard two C-130 aircraft provided by the Military Airlift Command.
1969: NMCB 40 s Phu Bai asphalt plant crew assisted in re-railing a car of the Republic of Vietnam national railroad after it derailed near the plant.
May 12
1965: NMCB 9 Air Detachment left Port Hueneme, California and arrived in Da Nang, RVN.
1966: NMCB 5 s main body departed Camp Hoover, Da Nang, RVN for Construction Battalion Center (CBC), Port Hueneme, California.
1969: Seabee Team 0604 arrived in Davisville, Rhode Island, from RVN for reassignment to NMCB 6.
May 13
1967: One man was killed and seven were wounded following a nighttime mortar and recoilless rifle attack on the NMCB 8 compound located at Chu Lai, RVN.
1968: Due to the augmentation of the Naval Construction Force (NCF) required for the war in Vietnam, Reserve NMCBs 12 and 22 were ordered to active duty at Gulfport, Mississippi, effective this date. This is the first time reserve Seabee units were called to active duty; the last C-130 flight of NMCB 10 personnel departed Quang Tri for CONUS.
1969: Seabee Teams 0705 and 0706 were assigned to the 21st NCR for 18 weeks of specialized training.
1971: Delayed party for NMCB 40 departed Davisville, Rhode Island for deployment to Diego Garcia.
May 14
1943: Seabees from Camp Peary, Virginia [six Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officers, 18 enlisted men], report to Amphibious Training Base Solomons, Maryland, and begin a four-week training course for what will become the Naval Combat Demolition Units.
1943: 87th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) commissioned at NCTC Camp Endicott, Davisville, Rhode Island.
1946: 3rd Special NCB inactivated on Okinawa.
1965: A detail of one officer and 74 enlisted men from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 9 arrived at Da Nang to assist the NMCB 3 advance party in construction of the first Seabee camp at Da Nang main compound (Camp Hoover) near Hill 327. The camp was originally programmed for two battalions, but later reduced to one battalion.
1969: NMCB 12 (reserve battalion) was disestablished as an active duty unit and returned to reserve status.
1970: Seabee Team 0412 departed Guam and arrived on Koror Island, Palau District, Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands.
1980: The Operation "New Life" camp reached its peak population of 50,233 on this day, after that the pace gradually slackened as the flow of refugees to the states outran the influx of new refugees. By 26 June the camp population had dropped to 10,138 and Operation "New Life" began to wind down.
About Operation "New Life", on 29 April 1975 the government of the Republic of Vietnam surrendered to the North Vietnamese as North Vietnamese regulars and Viet Cong closed in on Saigon. Before the surrender, President Gerald Ford ordered a mass evacuation of Americans and Vietnamese from the capital. For the latter who were political refugees, it meant the beginning of a long journey to a "new life" in the United States. In addition to the evacuation by air, many thousands of Vietnamese chose to flee the country in ships, and even small boats. The first stop for many on this journey was Grande Island, located at the entrance of Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines. Here, Seabees, assisted by Marines and civilian employees from the Navy Public Works Center built a tent camp for the refugees. From Grande these refugees moved to the larger camps which had been built on Guam in the Marianas.
On 23 April 1975 the 30th Naval Construction Regiment directed all Seabees on Guam to halt their normal construction projects and mount an around-the-clock effort to prepare facilities to house the approximately 50,000 refugees who were even then fleeing South Vietnam. Seabees first rehabilitated the abandoned Naval Hospital Annex at Asan Point. The Seabees worked around the clock and by Friday, 25 April, the camp received the first arriving refugees and quickly filled to its 10,000-person capacity. On 24 April Seabees began construction of a huge, 50,000 person tent camp at Orote Point. This was a monumental undertaking as it involved clearing the jungle from more than 50 acres of land. Once again, the Seabees worked 24-hours a day and the camp received its first refugees on 26 April. Not only did construction ratings work, but the battalions also pressed their support personnel into action. Supply clerks, mess cooks, and yeoman all pitched in and worked around the clock to get the job done. Construction continued and in about a week, Seabees erected 2,000 tents with no end in sight. Support utilities were also provided: messing facilities and kitchens, thousands of feet of water mains to supply showers and washing facilities, as well as the necessary sanitary facilities.
May 15
1944: ACORN 23 dissolved and absorbed into Naval Air Base, Ebeye (Kwajalein Atoll). (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.)
1966: Cmdr. Tom C. Williams, CEC, commanding officer of NMCB 10, assumed command of Camp Hoover, Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam (RVN).
1968: The last flight of NMCB 11 s 16-flight airlift to Vietnam was marred by disaster. The flight crashed on landing at Quang Tri airstrip. Seven passengers were injured and immediately flown by Medevac helicopters to the hospital ship, USS Sanctuary, cruising off the coast of Vietnam. The left wing was torn from the plane on impact and strewn ablaze for several hundred yards from the plane. Fires broke out within the fuselage of the plane, and one of the remaining engines burst into flames. While the crash trucks were rushing to the scene, Seabees poured out of the rear hatches carrying the injured with them. The battalion s dentist, Lt. Conley T. Snidow, who was accompanying the troops, administered first aid on the scene.
1968: The second increment of NMCB 1 s advance party of 48 personnel deployed via one C-141 aircraft from Davisville, Rhode Island to Da Nang, RVN.
1969: NMCB 121 s Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Gustave Pappas was wounded by a grenade thrown into the back of an ambulance during a civic action visit to the village of Phu Long, RVN.
May 16
1943: 10th Special Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) formed at Naval Construction Training Center (NCTC) Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia.
1966: Seabee Team 0405 departed Chu Lai for Port Hueneme for training prior to deployment.
1970: NMCB 5 s battalion flag was transferred from Camp Haskins North, Da Nang to Bien Hoa, RVN. Personnel remaining at Camp Haskins North became Detail Yankee.