ACB 1 Seabees construct camp, channel crossing during Exercise Balikatan 2023

Photo By Ensign Brianna Curley | U.S. Navy Sailors with Amphibious Construction Battalion 1 operate heavy machinery equipment to prepare land for the life sustaining area utilized during a combined joint logistics over the shore operation in preparation for Balikatan 23 in Casiguran, Philippines, March 24, 2023. Balikatan is an annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military designed to strengthen bilateral interoperability, capabilities, trust, and cooperation built over decades of shared experiences. (U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Brianna Curley)  

SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES

05.25.2023

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Storm Henry 

Expeditionary Strike Group 3

Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 Sailors constructed a life support area (LSA) and channel crossing in April in support of Exercise Balikatan 2023 (BK23) in Casiguran, Philippines.

LSAs are camps that provide service members with housing, food, medical services, and sanitation and preparation areas while deployed ashore. To build the LSA, ACB 1 Sailors cleared and leveled six acres of land and constructed facilities to support 500 personnel for the duration of the mission.

ACB 1 construction crew members also built a 70 ft x 15 ft channel crossing requiring 900 cubic tons of material, large enough to support Combined Joint Logistics Over the Shore (CJLOTS) operations and the movement of heavy equipment to and from the Military Sealift Command ships supporting BK23.

Paired with the channel crossing, ACB 1 utilized Improved Navy Lighterage System (INLS) craft to conduct CJLOTS missions due to the crafts’ portability and modular capabilities. JLOTS exercises maintain the U.S. Joint Force and allied capability to strategically maintain ship-to-shore logistics around the world.

Roll On/Roll Off and Amphibious Bulk Liquid Transfer System (ABLTS) missions, also rehearsed during BK23, are major operational components of CJLOTS as they allow for a forward presence to be resupplied with equipment, fuel, and water in locations where there would otherwise not be logistical capabilities.

With the construction efforts, the CJLOTS mission was successfully completed as the combined team was able to transport 200 pieces of military equipment while maintaining unbroken services for all 500 service members.

“The construction projects we completed here were critical to the success of the overall mission, and our Seabees were able to complete them safely and quickly,” said Chief Equipment Operator Christopher Ransomer, ACB 1’s construction operations manager for BK23. “What the construction team did here is the bread and butter of being a Seabee, and as always, they did it well.”

ACB 1 is headquartered in San Diego and is the sole Navy unit to conduct INLS missions. ACB 1 supports Joint Force operations and humanitarian aid response with ship-to-shore logistics and rapidly deployable construction teams around the globe.

• Date Taken: 05.25.2023
• Date Posted: 05.31.2023 02:07
• Story ID: 445823
• Location: SAN DIEGO, CA, US