DATE: Thursday, October 2, 1997             TAG: 9710010606

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Military 

SOURCE: BY MARY BURNHAM, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   97 lines

SEABEES FILL A NEED THE NAVY'S CONSTRUCTION BRIGADE "CAN DO" JUST ABOUT ANYTHING, FROM DIVING IN ICELAND TO BUILDING A 200-MILE ROAD ACROSS A DESERT.

Diving under polar ice, constructing refugee camps in war-torn countries, cleaning up after hurricanes.

The Navy's Construction Brigade, more commonly known as the Seabees, are at home doing all these things.

The Second Naval Construction Brigade, headquartered at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, commands 9,000 active and reserve personnel who travel the world constructing roads and bridges, medical facilities, schools, community centers and military buildings.

The Seabees originated during World War II, when trained construction people were needed quickly to fill the massive need for airstrips on the Pacific islands, explained Daryl Smith, spokesman for the brigade.

Back then, the Navy hired construction workers, many in their 30s and 40s, who were given military training.

Today, most Seabees are trained after recruitment as builders, steelworkers, electricians, mechanics, engineering aides, equipment operators or utility workers.

Seabees have participated in every U.S. conflict since World War II, most recently in Desert Storm, constructing airstrips, hospitals, tent camps and a 200-mile, four-lane highway that served as the major supply route across the desert, Smith said.

They're also at home in the polar ice caps.

The 70-member Underwater Construction Team based at Little Creek covers the Atlantic from pole to pole, said Lt. Cmdr. David Boone, commanding officer.

In 1998, they'll be in places like the Middle East, Cuba, United Kingdom, Iceland and Puerto Rico to construct and repair seawalls, piers, pipelines and communication cables.

The team recently dived in Iceland, although their exact purpose there is classified information, Boone said.

Senior Chief Dave Daniels is one of two master divers on the team. He has been a diver since 1985 and believes he has the best job in the Navy.

``The conditions are always different, and it's always a challenge,'' Daniels said.

That challenge may include water temperatures below freezing and zero visibility, said Operations Officer Lawrence Butler, who has worked at both poles, in 28-degree water under the ice.

In March, 13 men and two women from the team established an Arctic camp in Thule, Greenland, 700 miles north of the Arctic Circle. They lived in tents and endured wind chills of minus 65 degrees while practicing cold-weather dives.

In August, a local Seabees unit that was cross-deployed to the Pacific helped search for victims of the Korean Air flight that crashed in Guam.

Construction work has included building a Coast Guard station and community center on the island of St. Vincent, Army tent camps in Bosnia and a school in Jamaica. Construction projects are often done jointly with a humanitarian effort.

``Everyone likes to see the Seabees coming, because it usually means living conditions will get better,'' Smith said. During Christmas 1995, the Seabees built camps for 6,000 Army personnel in Bosnia, complete with heated tents and wooden floors.

Small mobile detachments are ready to go anywhere with 48 hours notice, Smith said. Larger units can be ready in six days, taking with them bulldozers, trucks and other heavy equipment.

Upon arrival, the units live independently, setting up tent villages, drilling wells and providing their own defense, Smith said, living up to the Seabee motto of ``can do.''

The Seabees provided $58 million worth of construction last year, Smith said.

The Seabees help fill the funding gap created by budget cuts and downsizing by renovating aging structures and building new ones at military bases.

They recently converted a storage room into a computer and learning center at the headquarters of the Commander in Chief Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk.

``We've been waiting for this for a long time, almost three years,'' said D.A. Mullis, command master chief at CINCLANTFLT. The 750-person staff will now have access to the Internet, a reading and audio library, and a place to study 24 hours a day, he said.

``The Seabees performed the work as a training function and, with the labor donated, it helps us both,'' Mullis said.

Seabees are also constructing a pedestrian mall at CINCLANTFLT, using heavy equipment to tear up an existing street and replace it with a brick walkway, benches and landscaping.

Much of the work Seabees do are quality-of-life projects, said Dennis Martinez, assistant officer in charge of the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Four.

``We go to different bases and ask the commanding officers what needs to be done. With cutbacks, downsizing and aging bases, the Seabees can really fill a great need,'' Martinez said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by Daryl Smith/U.S. Navy

Seabees prepare a form for a concrete slab for a building at

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Photo by Mary Burnham

Jeremy Rich, Petty Officer, 3rd Class, welds at the workshop of

Construction Battalion Unit 411 at Norfolk Naval Base. KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVY SEABEES

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