SAN VICENTE, El Salvador – Seabees assigned to the Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 28 completed the walls of a community center in Tepetitan, El Salvador, during Beyond the Horizon 2011 April 25, 2011.

The Seabees began working on the center in March. They had to clear the land of trees, move playground equipment and grade the ground prior to construction.

U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Estephan Garcia, of Houston, Texas, a Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 28 builder chief, said, “ The (BTH 11) experience has been great. It’s been a very interesting mission. We have not only been able to work with Navy Seabees but also with U.S. Army engineers, as well as the host nation (Salvadoran) engineers. Being able to come together in a joint mission like this has been very interesting.”

“They (Salvadoran citizens) are our allies, so we are doing some great things,” said U.S.Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Derlam, of Lake Jackson, Texas, a NMCB 28 builder. “We are building an auditorium for them. I am very excited because it involves children, and all the people here are very welcoming.”

Anytime you can build a tangible product and step away from it and immediately receive a sense of pride that your team constructed it, that is rewarding, said Garcia. Also the appreciations of the locals has been fantastic, as well it makes it easier to come to work each day.

This mission is one of numerous construction projects the 85-man team of Seabees from NMCB 28 has been tasked to complete during their 12-month deployment to South and Central America.

BTH is a U.S. Southern Command sponsored, U.S. Army South conducted, joint foreign military interaction/humanitarian mission. BTH is an annual humanitarian and civic assistance mission deploying U.S. military engineers and medical professionals to Latin American and Caribbean nations for training and to provide humanitarian services.

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