Today we celebrate the 68th birthday of the “Can-Do” construction battalions. Happy birthyday to all the brave men and women who have been a part of this honorable heritage.
Did you know:
- The earliest Seabees were recruited from the civilian construction trades.
- Because of the emphasis on experience and skill rather than on physical standards, the average age of WW II Seabees was 37.
- More than 325,00 men served with the Seabees in WW II on six continents and more than 300 islands.
- Between 1949 and 1953, Naval Construction Battalions were organized into two types of units: Amphibious Construction Battalions and Naval Mobile Construction Battalions.
- The Seabees were part of the Inchon landing.
- Providing much needed assistance in the wake of a devastating earthquake in Greece in 1953 was among the first missions that led the Seabees to become “The Navy’s Goodwill Ambassadors.”
- The Seabees began their largest peacetime construction on Diego Garcia in 1971. This project took 11 years and cost $200 million.
- More than 5,000 Seabees served in the Gulf War. In Saudi Arabia, Seabees built 10 camps for more than 42,000 personnel; 14 galleys capable of feeding 75,000 people; and 6 million square feet of aircraft parking apron.
- While their history is still being writte in OIF and OEF, the Seabees have proven to be of immeasurable worth. They have built numerous 20-acre aircraft-parking aprons, munitions storage areas, bridges and bases.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all.