74 Always Ready to Roll

Photo By Chief Petty Officer Michael Lindsey | Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 work as a team to weigh loaded 463L pallets during a Mount Out exercise on Construction Battalion Center, Gulfport. The exercise was designed to assess the battalion’s ability to execute a 48-hour mount-out via simulated tactical air and sea lift.  

GULFPORT, MS, UNITED STATES

10.01.2010

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Lindsey 

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74

Gulfport, Miss. - On Oct. 1, the Seabees of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 successfully completed their Mount Out exercise at Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport. The exercise officially kicked off the battalion’s Field Training Exercise which takes place at Camp Shelby, Miss.

A “mount out” is the process of preparing Civil Engineer Support Equipment for transport by sea and air. An NMCB must be able to mobilize an air detachment of at least 89 personnel and their CESE within 48 hours after the order is given.

Normally 34 or more pieces of CESE, including bulldozers, graders, rollers, forklifts and Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement vehicles, which can range anywhere from 2,300 to 50,000 pounds accompanies an air detachment. The detachment’s mission dictates which vehicles and equipment the officer-in-charge will choose to take.

“Every battalion has to maintain an air detachment ready to deploy anywhere, anytime when it’s needed, especially during times of crisis, calamities and wars. Whether they are in Gulfport, Rota, or even Afghanistan, they could be tasked to go anywhere in the world,” said Ensign Majellan Quezon, NMCB 74 embark officer.

As the battalion’s embark officer, Quezon is in charge of all troop and CESE movement that takes place.

“This exercise is geared for moving personnel and their necessary equipment, tools, and supplies from point “A” to point “B.” This is a required skill set that every battalion should have,” said Quezon.

During a mount out evolution, vehicles are requested through the dispatch office where they are issued and sent to collateral and equipped with the required gear. They are then either fueled or defueled, washed, inspected, repaired if necessary, weighed, marked for balance and staged for transport by either air or sea.

The entire operation is supervised and coordinated from the Mount Out Control Center. From the MOCC communications are maintained with each station and the status of each piece of CESE is tracked from start to finish.

“The idea is to get everything ready within 48 hours,” said Seaman Anthony Brown, yeoman, a MOCC board stander. “The vehicle status board gives the leadership a visual so they know everything is going according to plan.”

In true “Fearless” fashion, according to Robert Shaw, chief equipment operator, NMCB 74 blew the exercise out of the water. The CESE is scheduled to be convoyed from NCBC, Gulfport to Camp Shelby, Miss. for use during FTX.

“The leadership was very engaged and the efforts of the all the companies working together was phenomenal,” said Quezon. “Without everyone’s full support and cooperation we would have not have been as successful.”

• Date Taken: 10.01.2010
• Date Posted: 10.09.2010 08:42
• Story ID: 57814
• Location: GULFPORT, MS, US