Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Heather Salzman | 200415-N-MW964-1059 POINT MUGU, Calif. (Apr. 15, 2020). Gunners Mate Chief Petty...... read more read more
PORT HUENEME, Calif. (NNS) – Members of Naval Construction Group (NCG) 1 opened up their range to the 146th Airlift Wing (the 146 AW), California Air National Guard, to aid the team in qualifying with small arms weapons during a three-day small arms qualification course starting April 15, 2020.
Members of the 146 AW mobilized in late March to aid food distribution centers by delivering, storing and organizing large quantities of food with the hunger-relief organization Foodbank Santa Barbara, California.
During their mobilization, they were asked to qualify on small arms weapons. Fortunately for them, the NCG-1 range is within a 45-mile radius of their current mobilized operating area. The next closest range is 4-5 hours away.
Since the release of the DoD stop movement order, NCG-1 personnel are teleworking as much as possible in support of COVID-19 Health Force Protection efforts. This allowed NCG -1 and its range team to open the doors of the Seabee range to 146 AW.
“Because we activated so quickly with the COVID-19 pandemic, here to help with food distribution, we were unable to prepare and qualify (on small arms) beforehand,” said Lt. Col. Adam Goldstone, 146 AW Chief of Optometry. “Typically we have our training planned out, but no one expects a pandemic. However, we are always ready for the mission to serve the state of California.”
NCG-1 ensured all force health protection requirements were met for the service members qualifying at the range. 146 AW ran the course and provided safety officers for the qualification.
The NCG-1 range sits near Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu and has provided support to local forces including the Oxnard Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard, California Highway Patrol, and all of the DoD branches of service.
Cmdr. Michael Dobling, NCG-1 Training Officer, believes the spirit of the Seabees is what makes his team so resilient, especially in times of crisis.
“This isn't the first time the NCG-1 range team has been this adaptive and resilient, they recently also supported [Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron] VAW-116 with pre-deployment range qualifications on short notice, as they needed to ROM [restriction of movement] prior to their deployment,” said Dobling. “Our NCG-1 range team epitomizes the Seabee legacy of pride and professionalism.”
NCG-1 is based out of Port Hueneme, California and prepares Pacific Fleet Naval Construction Force (NCF) units to conduct expeditionary and deliberate construction in support of Combatant Commanders and warfighter requirements. They do this through combat and construction training, equipment and maintenance training, and logistical and mobilization support of our subordinate units. NCG-1 exercises administrative control over the 1st and 30th Naval Construction Regiments, Naval Mobile Construction Battalions (NMCBs) 3, 4, 5, 18, 22, 25, as well as Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 303, and Underwater Construction Team 2. In all, NCG 1 includes 10 subordinate units and totals about 4,700 personnel.
The 146th Airlift Wing is a combat-ready organization prepared to support U.S. and allied forces in the event of a national military contingency. As California National Guardsmen, the wing may also be called upon to provide disaster response, humanitarian relief, and large-scale aerial firefighting capabilities to the state and the nation. The wing's designated wartime mission is to provide general purpose and intra-theater airlift of personnel and materiel, normally into improved airports, with optional delivery by airdrop (payload descending to a drop zone by parachute) or airland (landing on short, unimproved airstrips under combat conditions). Their aircraft can also be configured for combat delivery of paratroops, aeromedical evacuation, photo reconnaissance, and large-scale aerial firefighting with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS). The 146th AW is currently the only organization in the world implementing the new MAFFS 2 units on the C-130J platform, making it a highly capable and valuable resource in the firefighting industry.
For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.
For more news from Naval Construction Group 1, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/ncg1 or http://www.facebook.com/ncgone
| Date Taken: | 04.17.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.20.2020 17:34 |
| Story ID: | 367894 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 107 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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