Seabee

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This article is about the Seabee naval unit. For the Seabee aircraft, see Republic RC-3 Seabee.

The Seabees are the Construction Battalions of the United States Navy. The Seabees have a history of building bases, bulldozing and paving thousands of miles of roadway and airstrips, and accomplishing myriad other construction projects in a wide variety of military theatres dating back to World War II.

The official motto of the Seabees is "Construimus, Batuimus"—"We Build, We Fight." Unofficially, their motto is even simpler: "Can Do!"

1 History
2 Miscellaneous
3 Reference
4 External links

[edit] History

WWII recruitment poster

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion One (NMCB-1), 2006

In December 1941, with U.S. involvement in war soon expected on both oceans, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks, recommended establishing Naval Construction Battalions (from which the abbreviation C.B. became Seabees). With the attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entrance into the war, he was given the go-ahead. The earliest Seabees were recruited from the civilian construction trades and were placed under the leadership of the Navy's Civil Engineer Corps. Because of the emphasis on experience and skill rather than physical standards, the average age of Seabees during the early days of the war was 37. More than 325,000 men served with the Seabees in World War II, fighting and building on six continents and more than 300 islands. In the Pacific, where most of the construction work was needed, the Seabees landed soon after the Marines and built major airstrips, bridges, roads, gasoline storage tanks, and quonset huts for warehouses, hospitals, and housing.

With the general demobilization following the war, the Construction Battalions were reduced to 3,300 men on active duty by 1950. Between 1949 and 1953, Naval Construction Battalions were organized into two types of units: Amphibious Construction Battalions (ACBs) and Naval Mobile Construction Battalions (NMCBs).

The Korean War saw a call-up of more than 10,000 men. The Seabees landed at Inchon with the assault troops. They fought enormous tides as well as enemy fire and provided causeways within hours of the initial landings. Their action here and at other landings emphasized the role of the Seabees and there was no Seabee demobilization when the truce was declared.

Following Korea, the Seabees embarked on a new mission. From providing much needed assistance in the wake of a devastating earthquake in Greece in 1953 to providing construction work and training to underdeveloped countries, the Seabees became "The Navy's Goodwill Ambassadors." Seabees built or improved many roads, orphanages and public utilities in many remote parts of the world. These "Civic Action teams" continued into the Vietnam War where Seabees, often fending off enemy forces alongside their Marine and Army counterparts, also built schools and infrastructure and provided health care service. After Vietnam, the Seabees built and repaired Navy bases in Puerto Rico, Japan, Guam, Greece, Sicily, and Spain. Their civic action projects focused on the Trust Territories of the Pacific.

In 1971, the Seabees began their largest peacetime construction on Diego Garcia, a small atoll in the Indian Ocean. This project took 11 years and cost $200 million. The complex accommodates the Navy's largest ships and the biggest military cargo jets. This base proved invaluable when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990 and Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm were launched.

During the Gulf War, more than 5,000 Seabees (4,000 active and 1,000 reservists) served in the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, Seabees built 10 camps for more than 42,000 personnel; 14 galleys capable of feeding 75,000 people; and 6 million ft² (600,000 m²) of aircraft parking apron.

[edit] Miscellaneous

The military qualification badge for the Seabees is known as the Seabee Combat Warfare Badge (SCW). It is issued to both officers and enlisted personnel and recognizes those who have been fully trained and qualified as a member of the various Naval Construction Force (NCF) units. Only members attached to a qualifying NCF unit are eligible for the SCW pin. The qualifying units include: Naval Mobile Construction Battalions (NMCB), Amphibious Construction Battalions (ACB), Construction Battalion Maintenance Units (CBMU), Naval Construction Force Support Units (NCFSU), and Underwater Construction Teams (UCT).

As opposed to the title of Seaman given to the ranks of E-1 through E-3 in the regular Navy, Seabees are referred to as Constructionmen, and wear sky blue stripes.

There are also two special Navy Units that are primarily Seabee Units: Naval Support Unit State Department where Seabees work, rehab and maintain security areas at US Embassies and Consulates overseas and Presidential Support Duty which is located at Camp David. While assigned to the State Department, a Seabee reports to a Department of State Security Engineering Officer or directly to a Department of State Regional Security Officer, who both work for the Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Along with the Marine Security Guard (MSG) program, this is a rare example of an active duty uniformed member of the U.S. armed forces who is operationally controlled through a civilian, albeit law enforcement, head.

There are currently around 17,000 Seabees, active and reserve, serving in the U.S. Navy.

Construction Mechanic Third Class (CM3) Marvin G. Shields remains the only Seabee to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He posthumously received the award for gallantry in action in Dong Xoai, Vietnam in 1965.

The Fighting Seabees (1944), starring John Wayne, is a fictionalized portrayal of the beginning of the Seabees.

Seabees feature prominently in the musical South Pacific.

Literal "seabees" (similar to the bee depicted on the badge) appear in the computer game Grim Fandango.