Navy Seabees turning 80

The new year is the 80th anniversary of the Navy's Seabees. It's been seven years since the U.S. officially ended Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), the military campaign launched in response to the September 11th (9/11) al-Qaeda terrorist attacks in 2001. Both the Pacific- and Atlantic-based Seabees, the construction arm of the Navy, played major a role in the OEF, which officially lasted from October 2001 to December 2014 and spanned he globe, including Afghanistan, Iraq and many other countries. One of the first groups of Seabees to set foot in Afghanistan in November of 2001 was an advanced party from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133 Air Det (Heavy), which was homeported at Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) Gulfport, Miss. They were part of Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis’ Joint Task Force 58, and those Seabees were initially responsible for upgrading the Camp Rhino forward operating base, which was 70 miles south of Kandahar, Afghanistan. From there, Seabees moved north to Kandahar Airfield, performing Rapid Runway Repair and constructing other structures to help build up the base. Within 48 hours, Seabees began repairs to the airstrip for C-130 and C-17 cargo aircraft to conduct operations. OEF also resulted in the formation of the First Naval Construction Division/Naval Construction Forces Command (1NCD/NCFC) in August of 2002. This united Seabees serving in OEF operations under one command structure, and remained operational until its inactivation in 2013. The Seabee also took part in numerous other projects, including construction of a Navy medical facility by NMCB 7, an NCBC Gulfport battalion. One of the Seabee’s final deployments in support of OEF ended in July 31, 2012, when the 22nd Naval Construction Regiment out of Gulfport took part in a transfer of authority ceremony at Kandahar Airfield with the U.S. Army's 411th Engineer Brigade. Seabee support of OEF was not without its sacrifice. Sixteen Seabees gave their lives in the line of duty, including Gulfport-based Builder Chief Petty Officer Raymond J. Border, who was killed by an IED in the Paktika province on Oct. 19, 2011. To honor Border’s memory, the Seabee base in Gulfport is planning to name its base fitness center the Raymond J. Border Fitness Center during a ceremony scheduled to take place Feb. 11. This would be the first building on base named after a Seabee who died serving during Operation Enduring Freedom. (Source: NCBC Gulfport 01/02/22)