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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-03948 to 363-03953.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-03948 to 363-03953
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Title
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Seabee in Vietnam press release
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Description
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Original title: "Seabee in Vietnam: A Brief Look at the U.S. Navy's Construction Battalions in Construction Support and Civic Action in the Republic of Vietnam." Seabees press release
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Date
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1967, Aug. 15
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Subject
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United States. Navy. Seabees; Vietnam War, 1961-1977; Construction projects; Press releases
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Location
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Washington, D.C.
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Coordinates
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38.9072; -77.0369
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Container
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B65, F12
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Format
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press releases
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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United States. Navy. Seabees
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Collector
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections
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Language
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English
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extracted text
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UNITED STATES Nt VY
CONSTRUCTION BA TT ALIONS
SEABEES IN ACTION
"CONSTRUIMUS, BATUIMUS - WE BUILD , WE FIGHT "
"CAN DO!"
15 August 1967
SEABEES IN VIETNAM
A Brief Look at the U.S. Navy's Construction Battalions
in Construction Support and Civic Action
in the Republic of Vietnam
The Third Naval Construction Brigade was recommissioned on June 1, 1966
by Rear Admiral R.R. Wooding, CEC, USN. The present Commander is Rear Admiral
J. V. Bartlett, CEC, USN. The Brigade's headquarters is in Da Nang. Captain
A. R. Marschall, CEC, USN, Commander of the 30th Naval Construction Regiment
(30th NCR), acts as Deputy Brigade Commander from his headquarters in Da Nang.
Commander R. L. Foley is Acting Commander of the 32nd NCR at Gia Le (Phu Bai).
The Third Brigade has operational control of Naval Construction Regiment(s)
and other Naval construction force units in Vietnam. (Refer to chart, last page,
for complete Seabee organizational structure in the Republic.)
Admiral Bartl tt is "number one" Seabee in-country. The "King Bee" in the
Pacific is Rear Admiral W. M. Heaman, CEC, USN, Commander, Naval Construction
Battalions, Pacific, with headquarters in Hawaii.
Ten Naval Mob:ile Construction Battalions (MCBs) are presently deployed in
Vietnam --- all in the I Corps area. Five are located in the general Da Nang area,
two are presently at Chu Lai, two are currently operating at Phu Bai and one
deployed at Dong Ha.
Presently there are 19 MCBs in the Navy. This represents an increase of
nine over the pre-Vietnam posture. Of the 19, seven are homeported at Davisville,
Rhode Island, five at the newly re-opened Construction Battalion Center at Gulfport,
Mississippi, and seven at Port Hueneme, California.
The average battalion consists of about 800 Seabees, of which there are
about 25 officers, the majority of which are Navy Civil Engineer Corps officers.
A construction battalion normally deploys to Vietnam for a period of eight months.
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY • NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND • WASHINGTON, D. C. 20390
JOIN THE SEABEES - SERVE THE WORLD
SPECIAL DETACHMENTS DO SPECIAL WORK
Sometimes battalion work requires a special 16 to 1OO-man detachment t o
complete a programmed job. Special detachments from the battalions have been
widely used in the I Corps area of Vietnam where the Seabee battalions have
been assigned.
They have rebuilt and extended several airfields near the De-Militarized
Zone (DMl). At Khe Sanh, in the extreme northwest corner of the Republic of
Vietnam, this ·was accomplished by a unit from MCB TEN assigned to the Army's
Special Forces detachment there. Other detachments from MCB's SIX, TEN and
FOUR worked on the airstrip at An Hoa, while another team from MCB's SEVEN
and TEN built the airfield at Dong Ha and presently MCB ELEVEN is deployed
there building the 17,000 man combat base.
In another instance, MCB FOUR selected a 16-man detachment, headed by a
First Class Petty Officer, to build a messing and shower facility for the
Marines in an area still contested by the Viet Cong. The only access to the
site was by river. All equipment, building supplies and Seabees had to be
transported on Marine Am-Tracks. Two squads of Marines provided most of the
security, while the Seabees themselves provided the remainder.
There has been confusion as to whether Seabees are Marines. A Seabee is
"a sailor in greens" --- though the Seabee-Marine relationship has historically
been a close one.
SEABEES -- A NATURAL FOR CIVIC ACTION
While in Vietnam, Seabees undertake their own people-to-people programs
called civic action . Seabees work at orphanages, give medical and dental aid
to local villager s and provide food, clothing and soap for the poor from parcels
they receive from home.
One Seabee's home town church contributed money to help purchase a pump
and motor to supply an orphanage with running water. Another Seabee received
a $112 Christmas check from his home town American Legion Post. The money is
helping to support a Vietnamese child at a local Da Nang orphanage.
An orphanage receives compound improvements; a village gets its first fresh
water well; homes are repaired following an airplane crash; a school gets a new
dormitory and classrooms; a bad tooth is pulled and a minor cut bandaged; and a
small child gets his f irst shower with a bar of soap .
2
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY • NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND • WASHINGTON , 0. C. 20390
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JOIN THE ' SEABEES - SERVE THE
WORLD
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SEABEES TRAIN HARD AND PRODUCE THE M)ST
The large scale commitment of Seabees to the
the value of the long, hard peacetime deployments
continuing emphasis during peacetime on training,
characteristic of the Navy's MCB's can be seen in
products in Vietnam.
war in Vietnam has proven
made by Navy MCB's. The
mobility and self-sufficiency
the Seabee's construction
The battalions that have taken part in the Southeast Asian conflict have
all shown the same capabilities. A battalion can deploy to a new location,
establish and maintain itself, and commence construction production with a
speed, effectiveness and flexibility unmatched by any other military engineering
unit.
The Seabees are accomplishing about ten percent (about $100 million)
of the programmed construction in Vietnam. What General MacArthur wrote to
Admiral Ben Moreell, Seabee Boss during World War II, is as true today as
then -- "The only trouble with your Seabees is that I don't have enough of them."
SEABEES -- PAST AND PRESENT
The Seabees were born during World War II when the Navy realized it
couldn't depend on civilian construction specialists to work on fortifications
on newly-stormed Pacific islands. Construction personnel were as likely to
be attacked as the Ma];'ines who were fighting the enemy from foxholes.
The jobs tackled by the Seabees in the island-hopping campaigns of
World Wa.r II were hard and dangerous. Very often you would hear a Seabee
identify himself as "a , soldier in a sailor's uniform, having Marine training,
and doing civilian work for WPA wages."
There were over 250,000 Seabees at the height of the war, in contrast
with today's approximate strength of over 15,000 Seabees on active duty.
SEABEES LAND IN VIETNAM
On
Seabees
Team to
beaches
Marines
May 7, 1965 -- the anniversary of the fall of Dien Bien Phu -of MCB TEN joined wi th members of the Fourth Marine Regimental Landing
make the first major amphibious landing since the Korean War ••• at the
of Chu Lai, Vietnam. This was the first Seabee landing with the
s~nce World War II, and at Inchon in the Korean conflict.
Immediately after landing, MCB TEN's Seabees began constructing an
expeditionary airfield on deep, shitting sand. Although there were tremendous
difficulties in construction, Marine jets were screaming off the airfield. for
Viet Cong target s just 23 days after the landing.
3
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY • NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND • WASHINGTON, D. C. 20390
In early June 1965, MCB THREE became the second battalion in Vietnam.
They made their headquarters at the base of Hill 327 west of Da Nang. Their
major project during this deployment ·was the rebuilding of a road leading
to t he Marine mis sile site atop the hill.
Then f r om Port Hueneme, California -- "home of the Pacific Seabees" -came MCB NINE to establish its camp next to the South China Sea, near Da Nang
East . The Seabees of NINE immediately started working on a variety of
construction projects. Chiefly among these was a large , 400 man Navy Hospital
and an extr emely difficult road to a missile site on Monkey Mountain which
overlooks Da Nang Bay.
.
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SEABEE PROJECT BECOMES VIET CONG TARGET
Bitter attacks were leveled against NINE by the Viet Cong. They thus
became the first Seabee battalion to come into direct contact with the enemy
since World War II.
For two months the Seabees worked at top speed to build the much needed
Navy Hospital for wounded Marines operating in the I Corps area. During the
early morning hours of October 28, 1965, the Viet Cong mortared the constr uction
site, destroying eight of the almost completed hospital buildings.
The next day the Seabees went grimly about the business of cleaning up
the debris and starting all over again. It was completed as previous l y
scheduled on January 10, 1966, despite the Viet Cong efforts.
The second major attack against the Seabees of NINE came early in t he
morning of January 25, 1966, when thirteen 81mm mortar rounds expl oded ·within
the camp area and 17 rounds landed in the camp's perimeter area. During
NJNE's deployment, 98 of their Seabees were wounded, incl uding their commanding
officer . Two Seabees died of their wounds.
VIETNAM SEABEE EFFORT GROWS
To coordinate the Navy's mobile construction work in Vietnam, the 30th
Navtl Construction Regiment was re-established at Da Nang in the summer of
1965. The 30th NCR is presently under the command of Captain A. R. Marschall,
CEC , USN . The regiment had been ina.ctive since the giant Cubi Point,
Philippines, airfield was completed . The airfield was built by the Seabees in
the early_l950's -- a task many civilian engineers had said was impossible.
Seabee strength was increased to four battalions in Viet nam when MCB
EIGHT, previously an Atlantic battalion, moved to Port Hueneme and almost
immediately deployed to Da Nang. Once in Vietnam, EIGHT's Seabees commenced
work on port facilities and other projects in support of Navy and Marine
efforts in the Da Nang area.
MCB FIVE became the fifth battalion to deploy to Vietnam when it relieved
MCB THREE at Camp Hoover, at the base of Hill 327 near Da Nang . I n December
1965, MCB FOUR relieved MCB TEN at Carnp Shields in Chu Lai. The ca.mp was named
in honor of Sea.bee Marvin D. Shields, who was awarded the CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL
OF HONOR posthumously fo September 1966, for his actions during the defense of
Dong Xoai, an Army Special Forces Camp. Shields is the first Navy man
to be so honored in Vietnam .
4
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY • NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND • WASHINGTON, D. C. 20390
•
JOIN THE _SEA~EES - SERVE THE WORLD
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The Seabees of NINE were relieved at Camp Adenir in Da Nang East in
early 1966 by MCB ELEVEN. And in March, MCB THREE returned to Vietnam for
its second tour and established a camp at Rosemary Point near the Chu Lai
Airfield. This brought to five the number of Seabee camps in operation in
Vietnam . In addition to building their own, the Seabees of THREE built-up
port facilities and storage areas for the Naval Support Act ivity at such a
rate they were awarded the "Best of Type" designation as the best Pacific
Coast Seabee unit in 1966. MCB ONE landed at Red Beach Da Nang the same
month to begin construction of the Naval Construction Forces headquarters complex
(now the home of the 3rd Naval Construction Brigade, 30th Naval Construction
Regiment and t wo NMCB's) and the huge Marine supply depot just across Highway 1.
MCB ONE later received "Best of Type" in the Atlantic and the Peltier Award
for best of both fleets for this deployment.
Also on loan from the Atlantic command, MCB SEVEN landed in April at
Phu Bai, just south of Hue, the old imperial capital of Vietnam. SEVEN's
major tasks were: building Marine cantonments, establishing thei r own camp,
and construction of a huge supply area.
the
and
was
for
When t he fighting in Operation Prairie became fierce near the DMZ in
late summer of 1966, the Seabees of SEVEN came to the aid of the Marines
upgraded the existing runway at Dong Ha -- despite the fact the runway
in constant use. They also constructed mess halls and living quarters
the Mar ine f ighting forces .
MCB TEN became t he second battalion to return to Vietnam when it replaced
MCB FIVE at Camp Hoover in May. The same month, MCB SIX left the home of the
Atlantic Coast Sea.bees at Davisville, R. I. to relieve MCB EIGHT at Camp Faulkner
in Da Nang East. In August 1966, MCB NINE arrived for its second tour in Da Nang
and estabJ.ished the second camp at Camp Haskins, Red Beach . The home of the
30th NCR was moved from downtown Da Nang in June of 1966 .
During 1966 the Navy began a program of re-commissioning Construction
Battalions which had been in "mothballs" since the end of World War II. The
first of these newly re-commissioned units, MCB FORTY, arrived at Chu Lai to
replace MCB FOUR in September. The major task facing them at that time was
the completion of a crosswind runway at the Chu Lai Airfield before the
monsoons began in October. With detachments from MCB's ONE, THREE and SIX
they completed this and at the same time constructed cantonment s for the
Korean Marines who are camped south of FORTY's base at Camp Shields.
In October, MCB FIVE returned for its second tour and replaced MCB ELEVEN
a.t Camp Adenir . MCB FIFTY EIGHT, the second of the newly re-commissioned
battalions, arrived from Davisville to relieve MCB ONE at Camp Haskins.
And as 1966 ended, the first battalion from the re-activated Construction
Batta.lion Center at Gulfport , Mississippi, MCB SIXTY 'IWO, arrived at Camp
Campbell in Phu Bai to r elieve MCB SEVEN . December also saw MCB THREE being
relieved at Rosemary Point by MCB EIGHT, which was starting its second deployment
to Vietnam. Two other new battalions, MCB's 133 and 121 arrived in-country
in February and August respectively while MCB THREE deployed to Phu Bai
to become the first Seabee battalion to return to Vietnam for its third tour.
---
5
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY • NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND • WASHINGTON , 0. C. 20390
:
JOIN THE SEABEES - SERVE THE WORLD
"
SEABEE CHAIN OF COMMANDS
Operational and Area Coordination
COMMANDER,
u. s.
MILITARY ASSISTANCE COMMAND, VIETNAM
COMMANDER ,
u. s.
NAV.t,,J, FORCES' VIETNAM
l
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COMMANDER , THIRD NAVAL CONSTRUCTION BRIGADE !I
COMMANDER, 30TH NAVAL CONSTRUCTION REGIMENT
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COMMANDING OFFICERS, NAVAL MOBILE CONSTRUCTION BATTALIONS (
Administrative Control
CHIEF OF NA.VAL OPERATIONS
I
COMMANDER IN CHIEF, U. S • PACIFIC FLEET
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COMMANDER SERVICE FORCE , U.S. PACIFIC FLEET
I
COMMANDER, U.S. NAVAL CONSTRUCTION BATTALIONS, PACIFIC
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COMMANDING OFFICERS' NAVAL MOBILE CONSTRUCTION BATTALIONS
I
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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY • NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND • WASHINGTON, 0. C. 20390
