NMCB-4 Completes Anchor Point Exercise

PORT HUENEME, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

08.07.2026

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Justin Rayburn 

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4

PORT HUENEME, Calif. – Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 4 Seabees recently completed Anchor Point Exercise (APEX), held from July 27 to 31, 2026 at Naval Base Ventura County, California. APEX evaluated the battalion’s readiness and ability to handle complex, real-world scenarios as the task element commander. APEX is a command and control (C2) exercise that demonstrates the Headquarters and Support (H&S) Company’s ability to organize and lead subordinate units during operations. The APEX certification process evaluated NMCB-4’s C2 capabilities within a broader warfighting context, evaluating officers and enlisted personnel on their ability to coordinate with higher echelons and subordinate units. As the task-element commander, NMCB-4 reported to Navy Expeditionary Warfighting Development Center (NEXWDC), who evaluates Navy Expeditionary Force units’ ability to deploy, while directing and coordinating efforts with subordinate units. “APEX occurs not only in NMCB-4, but across the Navy Expeditionary Forces,” said U.S. Navy Lt. James Klatka, NMCB-4’s assistant operations officer. “Participants in this APEX included NMCB-4, NMCB-133, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Mobile Unit 1 and 2, and one of the MSRONs, which is the Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron in San Diego.” According to Klatka, the evaluators focused on two teams of watchstanders, the Operational Planning Team (OPT) and the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) who are presented with a hypothetical scenario in the Pacific Ocean. Those teams are tested on their ability to take in information, plan, communicate and adapt in dynamic conditions. “Depending on the mission, the Navy, would task-tailor our command with other subordinate units from around Navy Expeditionary Forces to conduct the mission,” explained Klatka. “This particular exercise, APEX, evaluates our ability to work not only as Seabees, but also work amongst and between some of the other expeditionary communities with whom we are less familiar.” The dynamic nature of the exercise stressed each individual differently. Watchstanders found different aspects of the scenario more challenging than others. “One of the biggest challenges was taking in new information as the scenario changes,” Klatka said. “Current operations changes what happens, and so a big part of it is the ability for the TOC to effectively communicate relevant information so that the OPT can plan effectively for future operations,” “The biggest challenges were having to learn what different units' capabilities were on the fly,” explained Builder 1st Class Brandon Rivera, a TOC watchstander. “For example, really understanding what all of the MSRONs are capable of versus seaward and landward capabilities, understanding all the different aspects when it comes to Navy cargo handling, and everything that they have the capability to do.” Cooperation extended beyond the members of NMCB 4’s watch teams, to the relationship NMCB-4 had with its subordinate commands. “One challenge that we worked through was integrating other Navy Expeditionary Force components within NMCB-4 and allowing them an opportunity to share their experience and their knowledge of how they conduct operations,” said Klatka. “In a real-world environment, we will not dictate how EOD does their job. We, in a way, had to relinquish that, and trust the EOD augmentees, who were with us, that they were giving us the right information.” The OPT focused on future planning, while the TOC, focused on current operations. The two distinct teams divided labor to efficiently parse large quantities of information bombarding them in a severely time-constrained environment. “The flow goes something like this,” said Klatka. “In the grand scheme of the theater that we're operating in, something changes that dictates us needing to modify what we're doing. For example, if the threat level increases, then as Seabees, we may need to build bunkers, but maybe we're already doing a certain operation that we can't stop. At that point, the OPT is responsible for figuring out how to appropriately optimize our available manpower and equipment to accomplish all the assigned missions.” Though the exercise required plausible solutions to all the presented issues, the evaluation was more focused on the team’s ability to solve problems . The process the watch standers used to propose solutions to dilemmas, demonstrated to the evaluators NMCB-4’s effectiveness as a task element commander in combat operations. NMCB-4 Sailors successfully demonstrated their ability to conduct future C2 as headquarters to dissimilar Naval Expeditionary Force units in major combat operations. NMCB 4 is implementing a robust construction skill training plan to prepare for a dynamic mission set in support of Combatant Commander strategic objectives. US Navy Story by MC1 J. Dakota Rayburn [e-mail]

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 https://www.necc.usff.navy.mil/nmcb-4/ https://www.facebook.com/NMCB4 https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/NMCB4

• Date Taken: 08.07.2026
• Date Posted: 08.20.2026 11:29
• Story ID: 572790
• Location: PORT HUENEME, CALIFORNIA, US