WHAT IS A 3EAHEE?
There is a widespread misunderstanding, even among Navy people, of the or
ganisational status of these green—clad,, rifle-carrying, apparently familv-less
men who roam around the Pacific on Construction assignments.
First of all, a Seabee is a part of the regular Navy, similar to any other
sailor, except instead of being assigned to a ship or a shore station, he has been
assigned to a Construction Battalion* Most of the men are in the Group VIII, or
Construction ratings. However, the Battalion also has yeomen, storekeepers, cooks,
stewards, boatswain* mates, photographers, and other "fleet ratings." The Officers
are primarily engineers, CMC, with a staff consisting of Medical, Dental, Chaplain
and Supply Corps Officers.
And we do have families, mostly located at our home port of Port Hueneme,
California. Our mission keeps us away from home a considerable amount of time, but
thats’ our job.
What is this mission? Primarily, it is maintaining a constant state of
readiness, for support of Naval and Marine elements in a combat situation, a good
example was announced on the radio this week. Detachments of Seabees from MOb-aO
in Okinawa (they were here on ^dak with you last fall) have landed in Thailand in
support of elements of the Third Marine Division.
In order to maintain this so<~te of readiness, the Pacific Seebees are
rotated to various locations for training in Construction and Military situations.
The completed work we leave for you on Adak will be primarily a by-product of cur
readiness training. Incidentally, it will be of greater dollar value than the
total cost of our deployment here, (we are one of the few government agencies that
pay our own way)«
During our short state-side tours., we train with the Marines at Gamp
^Pendleton, California, to improve our combat capabilities to the end, that we my
^better be able to defend what we build*
We hope to leave Adak a better place than when we arrived, and if long
hours, hard work, and technical skill will accomplish this, there is little doubt
that we will succeed.
V/e are proud to be your neighbors for the next fexv months.
Wm9 H; Sturman
-
CDR. CEO USN
COMMANDING OFFICER
USDKCB NINE