Page 42 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2017

SEABEES training heroes What is a
Seabee Base?
story by Brian Lamar photos courtesy of NCBC
Construction training on board NCBC Gulfport prepares Seabees for deployment missions.
“Our installation is here to ensure that the Department of Defense
is supported in its missions by providing top-notch service to our tenant-supported commands,” said Cmdr. Ronald Jenkins, executive officer of the Gulfport NCBC.
Although there are many facets
and missions on the base, Gulfport knows NCBC affectionately as the “Seabee Base” since there are multiple battalions of Seabees who can be seen throughout the Mississippi Gulf Coast buying houses, cars and groceries; eating out; and pumping gas. The word Seabee was derived from the name of the units they work in — construction battalions.
Many of the personnel stationed at NCBC are not subject to the typical military rotation schedule of just a couple of years at one station. Some personnel, especially Seabees, can easily serve most of their career in Gulfport.
“With the multiple assignments many of our sailors have to Gulfport,
combined with the length of the assignments, many see themselves
as an inextricable part of the community,” said Jenkins, who is part of the Installation Command Team.
The team’s job is to ensure that all the facilities are in working order,
Pouring concrete for the future
facility will enable Seabee battalions to conduct training specific to their deployment missions’ demands by improving their construction skills in concrete formwork, concrete finishing, masonry, subterranean utilities, carpentry, pre-engineered building fabrication, overhead power lines, interior finishing, and steel fabrication.
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