From: Office of Sen. Trent Lott        Filed 7/7/06  GCN

The U.S. Navy plans to attach an additional Naval Construction Battalion and Naval Construction Regiment to the Gulfport Seabee Base, resulting in an additional 676 new military and civilian positions at the facility, U.S. Senator Trent Lott said today.

“The Navy made a  wise decision here, leveraging on Mississippi’s pitch that our military gets “twice the base for half the cost” at Gulfport because of the community’s well developed airport and seaport assets,” Senator Lott said.  “This expansion of Gulfport’s Seabee Base provides exceptional value for our armed forces and U.S. taxpayers.”

Senator Lott has been very active in the base’s reconstruction following Hurricane Katrina as well as its continued development independent of storm recovery.  Senator Lott urged the Navy to have CBC Gulfport compete to accommodate an additional new battalion of Seabees, confident in Gulfport’s ability to absorb and host additional military investment.

Naval Construction Battalion 11, consisting of 558 enlisted personnel and 21 officers, along with Naval Mobile Construction Regiment 25, composed of 64 enlisted, 17 officers and 16 civilians, will be established on October 1, 2006 and commence staffing next Spring.  The units’ respective missions are as follows:

• 
  Mission of Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 11: NMCBs provide responsive military construction support to Navy, Marine Corps and other forces in military operations, construct base facilities and conduct defensive operations. In addition to standard wood, steel, masonry and concrete construction, NMCBs also perform specialized construction such as water well drilling and battle damage repair. They are able to work and defend themselves at construction sites outside of their base camp and convoy through unsecured areas.
   
• Mission of 25th Naval Construction Regiment: Naval Construction Regiments (NCRs) exercise administrative and operational control of two or more Naval Mobile Construction Battalions or other Naval Construction Force units operating in a specific geographic area or operating in support of a specific military operation. A Regiment normally consists of the Commander, the Regimental Staff and Battalions assigned

• ---

  More information:

  SeaBees and the Naval Construction Battalion in Gulfport - militarynewcomers.com