Seabees Complete Parking Lot Project, Achieve High Velocity Learning

Photo By Chief Petty Officer Brannon Deugan | NAVAL AIR STATION JACKSONVILLE, Florida (February 8, 2017) Crew members of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 and Central Southern Construction place asphalt during a parking lot project on board Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, February 8, 2017. Central Southern Construction, a government contractor from Jacksonville, Florida, provided on-the-job training to the Seabees of NMCB 1 in the field of asphalt placement to ensure that the crew applied the best concepts, techniques and technologies, accelerating learning to effectively execute the project while achieving high velocity learning. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released)  

JACKSONVILLE, FL, UNITED STATES

03.03.2017

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Brannon Deugan 

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1

In less than five months, Seabees overcame a steep, on-the-job learning curve during the construction of parking lot on board Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, February 15, 2017.
A small group of Seabees, ranging from 10 to 13, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1, completed the $300,000 renovation of a parking lot including approximately 100 additional parking spaces.
“It was important for our personnel to do this project because it showed that our sailors can not only learn, but fully complete a variety of different aspects inside and outside their own rates,” said Builder 2nd Class Thomas Dauzat, project supervisor. “By completing these different tasks, our troops are now becoming well versed in their rates and becoming valued assets in our battalion; thus being able to lead future projects and operations abroad.”
On September 22, NMCB 1 began construction on a 36,000 square feet pervious pavement parking lot that included the removal and installation of sidewalks, installation of a drainage catch basin, landscape work and bituminous asphalt paving.
“In construction of a 36,000 square feet pervious paver parking lot with 260 tons of asphalt being placed in the roadway areas, the training and knowledge gained was great,” said Equipment Operator 2nd Class Ian King, a crew leader on the project. “We worked alongside a government contracted construction company, Central Southern Construction, based locally out of Jacksonville, Florida.”
One of the CNO’s lines of effort is to achieve high velocity learning through the application of best concepts, techniques and technologies in turn accelerating the learning of individuals, teams and organizations. NMCB 1’s crew received professional training and knowledge from the company’s experience in the field of asphalt placement.
A pillar of high velocity learning is to “understand the lessons of history so as not to relearn them,” and what the Seabees gained from the partnership was previously learned lessons from the company’s background in this field of expertise.
“Central Southern Construction’s site foremen shared his expertise in placing Hot Mix Asphalt,” said Ian King. “Working alongside the paving crew really gave us a one-on-one learning experience with tricks of the trade, and the skills they shared with us are ones to keep in the back of our minds. They were impressed with how quickly and how eager we were to learn a new skill set.”
NMCB 1’s crew members possessed varying levels of knowledge and technical skills with most members being complete amateurs to this particular type of construction.
“Our crew was pretty new to the battalion, and for many their first project, so they had to learn most of the construction through on-the-job training,” said Dauzat. “The crew had a willingness to learn, and with the detailed plans for the jobsite, our crew was able to not just complete these tasks, but fully understand how and why it was relevant to the project. Once those members became proficient in a certain task, they were then able to teach other members of different rates.”
The Seabee’s embraced the “Can Do” spirit, and several members of the crew took advantage of the opportunity to cross-train in the different skill sets of other Seabee ratings.
“Being a steelworker on my first project with no steelworker work was difficult at first,” said Steelworker Construction Apprentice Andrew Cuellar, a crew member. “I found my biggest challenge was that I did not know what certain tools were and how to operate them. My best example of this was the pneumatic nail gun. I had to learn how to operate not just the nail gun, but an air compressor and generator as well.”
For one junior Seabee, Construction Mechanic Constructionman Joshua King, the experience was meaningful and beneficial.
“It is humbling for me to be a part of a project that was well outside my previous realm of knowledge,” said Joshua King, crew member. “I got to do a lot of work inside and outside of my rate. I have taken everything I have learned and can only hope my skill set will continue to be value to the battalion and the Navy.”
The project leadership takes great delight in the crew’s ability to learn and diversify their professional skills and knowledge over the course of the parking lot project.
“It gives me a great sense of pride knowing that we took this project with members new to construction, and not only taught them, but they grasped the knowledge to be able to complete this project ahead of schedule,” said Dauzat. “It gives me faith for the future of the battalion and the Seabees as a whole that we still have members that can be put in difficult and stressful situations and be able to adapt and overcome any obstacle that is put before us.”

• Date Taken: 03.03.2017
• Date Posted: 03.07.2017 09:17
• Story ID: 225969
• Location: JACKSONVILLE, FL, US