POHNPEI, Federated States of Micronesia--Sailors with Construction Civic Action Detail, Federated States of Micronesia (CCAD FSM) assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 along with employees from US, Australian and Japanese embassies participated in a roadway cleanup community relations (COMREL) event, Jan. 5 in Pohnpei.
The volunteers picked up over 20 bags of rubbish along the causeway that leads from Pohnpei airport into the city of Kolonia.
“This event was a great opportunity for our team to work with our friends from the US, Australian, and Japanese embassies to cleanup the causeway,” said Lt. j.g. Jon Dean, officer in charge of CCAD FSM. “More importantly, this is a chance to prevent discarded trash from polluting the water Pohnpeians use to catch fish.”
COMREL events allow service members an opportunity to interact and build relationships with the people of Pohnpei.
“It’s important to keep this road clean, my kids walk through here everyday,” said Kathy Santos, a Japan Embassy volunteer. “It’s important to keep this community clean and show Pohnpei’s beauty.”
The highway cleanup is one of many COMREL events CCAD FSM Sailors have participated in since deploying to Pohnpei in August.
NMCB 1 is assigned to CTF 75 and is the primary expeditionary task force responsible for the planning and execution of coastal riverine operations, explosive ordnance disposal, diving engineering and construction, and underwater construction in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations.