Photo By Sgt. Maj. Jeremy Crisp | Steelworker Constructionman John J. Sanders, a Navy Seabee from Naval Mobile...... read more read more
Subscribe
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – It wasn’t on a ship that Petty Officer 1st Class Abel D. Wright, an equipment operator, wanted to be when he joined the Navy. He wanted to be on the ground.
And it has worked out so far – he’s never been on a ship in his career.
That’s okay by him and his men though, because it’s on land where he and his six U.S. Navy “Seabees” of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 find themselves. Specifically, on Kandahar Air Field in southern Afghanistan.
The Seabees, deployed from their home station of Port Hueneme, Calif., work and live alongside servicemembers from Special Operations Task Force – South in Kandahar. They support the mostly all-Army task force by building, repairing, welding … and building some more.
“What we are really trying to do is make everything better here on the camp,” said Wright, 28, of Clatskanie, Ore. “We make sure the soldiers have hot showers, the latrines are up to snuff and working, and we do general improvements for living conditions.”
Wright is the lead petty officer of the camp maintenance detachment, and his crew of Seabees carries a range of specialties.
There’s an electrician; a utilities man that handles plumbing, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning; two carpenters; a logistics specialist and a steel worker.
Wright? He operates the heavy equipment.
“Construction has always been an interest of mine,” he said. “I actually worked in a tire shop and changed big tractor tires, and I decided that I would rather be running the equipment and making the tires go flat than changing them.”
With just over nine years in the Navy, he’s now running a crew with Seabees that are in constant demand across the camp, with plumbing work topping the list lately.
That is where Petty Officer 3rd Class Benjamin T. Sanders, a utilitiesman, steps in.
“I’ll do everything from fixing toilets to unclogging a sink line, to unclogging drain lines to putting in new drain lines … it’s always something …” said Sanders, 26, of Phoenix.
Sanders was busy one day on the roof of a housing wing, working on the plumbing when a higher priority call came his way: busted sewer line.
The line had backed up into the bathroom.
“The drain clogged, the pipe froze, and it didn’t go in the septic tank like it was supposed,” Sanders said while digging out the main pipe.
“Right now we are re-grading the pipe and covering it up. Hopefully we won’t have to do it again.”
Spending the day digging out sewage does have its rewards though, Sanders said.
“It’s good to know it’s comfortable here when the guys come back from the field, because this is their home,” he said. “To know that I have a small hand in making sure that they have hot showers, and working toilets … I think that goes far.”
His boss agrees.
“It’s about being allowed to be in the SOTF community, being accepted and being able to help these guys,” Wright said. “When people come up and say ‘Thanks man, we really appreciate that,’ and notice what we are doing – that’s our reward.”
While there are Seabees on camp that keep the place running, they often break into assessment teams and travel to remote locations. They find out what equipment or hardware is needed at those sites. The assessment eventually turns into a team coming to the site to build or design what is required, such as building sleeping quarters and installing heaters.
“No heat, and living in tents,” was the assessment from Petty Officer 2nd Class Anthony M. Herrera, a builder, a San Diego native, who just returned from a build at a remote special operations location.
He said that his small amount of time at the remote locations helps him understand how those in the field are living. After returning from his build, he said: “Now they have heat, and a better place to live. We just want to help improve their quality of life. That’s why we do it.”
The Seabees haven’t always been around though, and the Army has done without them on the camp at times.
That’s why their work doesn’t go unnoticed.
“I couldn’t be happier with the Seabees,” said Army Capt. Larry A. Harmon, of Fayetteville, N.C., and logistics officer for SOTF-South.
It was a two-man shop when Harmon and his logistics crew first arrived in Afghanistan. Things were quickly becoming overwhelming with the amount of maintenance issues on the camp – until the Seabees arrived. Now, “things fall apart, they are on top of it,” Harmon said.
And they have become an integral part of the team. A group of guys that Harmon said the unit can’t do without.
“They are part of our family,” Harmon said. “They may wear a different uniform and have a Seabee on their patch, but they are part of the unit now. You would never know they weren’t organic to the unit because of the relationship we’ve formed.”
As for the future of the Seabees on the SOTF Camp in Kandahar: Wright says they’ll keep up the work, and appreciates his time with the Army.
“The experience has been amazing,” Wright said. So much so, that he said that he may consider getting on a ship. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind doing a western pacific tour.”
| Date Taken: | 12.28.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 01.04.2011 02:17 |
| Story ID: | 62971 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 322 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
No keywords found.
