VOIXME VI, NUMBER 37
ADAK SUN
11 SEPTEMBER 1961 i
WHO ARE THE SEABEES?
You!ve seen us debark from a ship like sailors, maneuvering- and marching like
Marines, and working like contractors on a 60 hour week. Who are we? We*re the
Seabees — Seabees of the Navy.
"Seatee” comes from the initials CB which stand for Construction Battalion.MCB
stands for Mobile Construction Battalion. This summer you have been surrounded ty
officers and men of the Navy*s finest — the TENTH Naval Mobile Construction Batt
alion, one of the five in the Pacific area.
Organizational!*/ we fit into the big Navy picture exactly as does a ServPac ship.
Our Type Ccmmander is ComServPac. Our home port is Port Hueneme, California, 60
miles north of Los Angeles. Three months of the year we are in "drydock” during
which our construction equipment is overhauled, and our men attend numerous schools,
They study everything from jungle warfare to tile setting, and learn to fight like
Marines at Camp Pendleton, in preparation for carrying out the Seabee mission o n the
following deployment. The remaining nine months of the year weTre aboard ship trav
eling, or working ii localities such as Guam, Midway, Okinawa, and Alaska..
Briefly, our mission is to be prepared to build in the shadow of the front line
. to defend what we build, to conduct diaster recovery operations wherever necessary,
and to be prepared "to pack up and move at a moment?s notice. This explains why we
are working in Alaska, why we march and maneuver like Marines, and why we keep mov
ing, moving, moving.
Our present ^us toners” for contract work are the Commanding Officers of the Navel
Static^ Kodiak & Adakj our military commander is COMA IB EAFRON/COMSEVENTEEN; our ad
ministrative commander is COMCBPAC, acting for ComServPac; and our technical con*»
trol stems from the Bnreau of Yards and Docks. "Line" command and technical super
vision within ihe Battalion is through Civil Engineer Corps Officers and the Group
VIII enlisted jersonnel. Supporting the line we have our own doctor, dentist (both
on Adak), supply officer, and chaplain..
Our business is buiJLding and fighting. And, yes, we are in the Navy I
'lU CB3^ CSC, USN
Commanding Officer* USN MSB TEN