Subscribe
The Naval Construction Force, better known as the
Seabees (or CB’s) for short, came to fruition March 5, 1942,
at the height of WWII. They were formed to meet the need for
construction on advanced bases and airfield damage repair
in combat zones.
Admiral Ben Moreell, known as the Father of the
Seabees, was the Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks
at the time. He requested a specific authority to organize,
man and activate Navy Construction Units, the first of which
were formed in January of 1942. The Bureau of Navigation
recruited men from construction trades for assignment
to a Naval Construction Regiment comprised of three
Naval Construction Battalions. Admiral Moreell personally
furnished them with their official motto: Construimus,
Batuimus -- “We Build, We Fight.”
The first Seabees were not brand new recruits when
they voluntarily enlisted. With an emphasis on experience
and skill, the first recruited Seabees were not unpracticed
recruits. All the recruits had to do was adapt their civilian
construction skills to military needs. To obtain men with the
necessary qualifications, physical standards were less rigid
than they were in other branches of the armed forces.
The age range for enlistment was 18-50, but, after the
formation of the initial battalions, it was discovered that
several men over the age of 60 had managed to enlist.
During the early days of the war, the average age in the
Seabees was 37. By the end of the war, about 325,000 men
had enlisted in the Seabees: a force skilled in more than 60
trades. Nearly 11,400 officers joined the Civil Engineer Corps
during the war, and 7,960 of them served with the Seabees.
After December 1942, voluntary enlistments were
halted by orders of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and men
for the construction battalions had to be obtained through
the Selective Service System. Moving forward, Seabees
were, on average, much younger and came into the service
with more rudimentary skills.
Naval Construction Training Centers and Advanced
Base Depots were established on the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts. Those who enlisted to become Seabees learned
military discipline and the use of light arms, truly embodying
the “We Build, We Fight” motto.
After World War II, units were decommissioned and
demobilized. The force had gone down to just 20,000 at
that point. From then on, all of the Seabee activity was
concentrated at the Naval Construction Battalion Center
in Port Hueneme, California. Seabee ranks continued to
thin. Post-WWII years saw only a few battalions and small
construction battalion detachments scattered at naval
bases and stations abroad. Despite the diminished strength
of the force, Seabee peacetime activities took on a unique
and diversified character mission. Besides maintaining
advanced bases built during the war, they were assigned
many construction assignments globally.
In June 1950, following the invasion of South Korea
by the armies of communist North Korea, the Seabees
found themselves at war again. As part of the United States
contingent of the United Nations force, they rose to the
challenge by calling upon reservists, their active-duty force
was expanded to more than 14,000.
On September 15, 1950, U.S. troops landed at Inchon
in what has come to be known as one of the most brilliant
amphibious assaults in history. Seabees achieved renown
as the men who made it possible. Battling enormous thirtyfoot tides and a swift current while under continuous enemy
fire, they positioned pontoon causeways within hours of the
first beach assault. Following the landing, the incident known
as the Great Seabee Train Robbery took place. The need to
break the equipment bottleneck at the harbor inspired a
group of Seabees to steal behind enemy lines and capture
some abandoned locomotives. Despite enemy mortar fire,
they retrieved the engines and turned them over to the Army
Transportation Corps.
Seabee participation in the Korean War was not limited
to amphibious operations. Another of their outstanding
contributions was in that specialty of their World War II
predecessors -- airfield construction. Seabees could be
found throughout the war zone constructing, repairing, and
servicing the K-fields of the various Marine Air Groups. The
Seabees were placed into numerous detachments. Each unit
was assigned to an airfield designated with a “K” number,
such as K-3 at Pohang, K-18 at Kimbo, and K-2 at Taegu.
Crises in Berlin, Cuba, Africa, South America, and
especially in Southeast Asia created the necessity to maintain
military strength and preparedness. Seabee Reservists
helped meet the Korean crisis, but the onset of the Cold
War indicated the need for a basic reorganization of Seabee
capabilities and increased Seabee numbers. Thirteen
battalions of two distinct types were established between
1949 and 1953. The new establishments signified a gain in
greater battalion mobility and specialization. The first type,
the new Amphibious Construction Battalions, were landing
and docking units. An integral part of the Fleet Amphibious
Forces, their mission was to place causeways and shipto-shore fuel lines, construct pontoon docks, and perform
other functions necessary for the expeditious landing of
men, equipment and supplies. Naval Mobile Construction
Battalions (NMCBs) constituted the second type. They were
responsible for land construction of a wide variety, including
camps, roads, tank farms, airstrips, permanent waterfront
structures and many other base facilities.
Then began a peacetime pattern of battalion trainings
and deployments, which took shape in the years following
the Korean War. This pattern, however, was drastically
altered in 1965. The war in Vietnam brought American
military intervention on a large scale and affected changes
in Seabee activity worldwide. In spring of 1965, there were
9,400 Seabees on active duty at various sea and shore
locations; most of these Seabees were assigned to ten
reduced-strength NMCBs.
Beginning in 1964, the United States military buildup
in South Vietnam interrupted the normal peacetime
deployment pattern of the Naval Construction Force.
Seabees were to play an important and historic role in the
growing Southeast Asian conflict. By fall of 1968, when
Vietnamese requirements reached their peak, the Seabee’s
numbers had grown to more than 26,000 men, serving in 21
full-strength NMCBs, 2 Construction Battalion Maintenance
Units (CBMUs), and 2 Amphibious Construction
Battalions (ACBs).
The construction of roads, airfields, cantonments,
warehouses, hospitals, storage facilities, bunkers and
other critically needed facilities were among the myriad
accomplishments of the Seabees during the Vietnam
War. The mobile “search and destroy” strategy adopted by
the United States during the first years of the war shaped
the two-fold mission for the units in Vietnam. In addition
to the many Seabee Team activities in remote locations,
construction battalions built large coastal strongholds in
the I Corps Tactical Zone that embraced the northernmost
provinces of Quang Tri, Thua Thien, Quang Nam, Quang In,
and Quang Ngai.
When the de-escalation of United States activity in
Southeast Asia got underway, Seabee-strength once again
reduced. By September 1970, the NMCBs were down to
the planned post-Vietnam level of ten full-sized battalions.
Because of the reduction of the Naval Construction Force in
Vietnam, on December 8, 1969, the headquarters of the 30th
Naval Construction Regiment was moved from Vietnam
to Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands, and on May 1, 1971, the
headquarters of the 32nd Naval Construction Regiment
moved from Vietnam to Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. By
the end of 1971, most Seabees were employed outside
of Southeast Asia, and, on Nov. 9, 1971, the 3rd Naval
Construction Brigade was disestablished.
Since then, Seabees have participated in other large
events from operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, to
the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. Using all of their
knowledge and training over the years to build up bases
and supply combat construction needs. Seabees are still
stationed and deployed around the world, actively supporting
the needs of the Naval Construction Force and sustaining
global relationships.
| Date Taken: | 03.01.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.29.2022 12:41 |
| Story ID: | 436032 |
| Location: | FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 155 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Here's to 80 Years of "Can Do!" Spirit, by PO2 Alexa Trafton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
