Two new units to be commissioned at Gulfport Seabee base
Published 4:37 pm Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The 25th Naval Construction Regiment and Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11, which trace their roots back to World War II, will be commissioned again on Friday.
The two units include active duty civil engineers and Seabees. They will be located at the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport.
NMCB 11 was a highly decorated unit that began as the 11th Naval Construction Battalion in World War II but was disbanded in 1945 and recommissioned in 1953 during the Vietnam War. It was again disbanded in 1969.
The 25th NCR will have administrative and operational control over NMCBs, the Seabees said in a news release.
With the commissioning of NMCB 11, the U.S. Navy now will have nine active duty construction battalions, and the new commission means five of those will be based in Gulfport, which serves the Seabees’ Atlantic homeport.
The other four are in Port Hueneme, Calif, which serves as the Pacific homeport. The Navy has 12 reserve construction battalions in the United States.
The base’s current personnel strength of about 3,500 will increase by more than 500 with the new units.