page_title: Seabee
section_title: Cold War: Korea
hierarchical_section_title: Seabee / Cold War: Korea
caption_attribution_description: English: Suspension bridge built by NMCB 5 CCAD in Timor-Liste
context_page_description: United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force. The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the first letters "C B" from the words Construction Battalion. Depending upon how the word is used "Seabee" can refer to one of three things: all enlisted personnel in the USN's occupational field 7, all officers and enlisted assigned to the Naval Construction Force, or Construction Battalions. Seabees serve outside the NCF as well. During WWII they served in both the Naval Combat Demolition Units and the Underwater Demolition Teams. In addition, they served as elements of Cubs, Lions, Acorns and the United States Marine Corps.
  They also provided the manpower for the top secret CWS Flame Tank Group. Today they have many special task assignments starting with Camp David and the Naval Support Unit at the Department of State. Seabees serve under both Commanders of the Naval Surface Forces Atlantic/Pacific fleets as well as on many base Public Works and USN diving commands.
context_section_description: The outbreak of the Korean War led to a call-up of 10,000 from the Seabee Reserve.  Seabees landed at Inchon during the assault, installing causeways dealing with enormous tides and enemy fire. Their actions there and elsewheres underscored the necessity of having CBs.  During that war the authorized size of a CB was 550 men. When the truce was declared there was no CB demobilization as there had been at the end of WWII.
  During the Korea, the U.S. realized the need of an air station in the region. Cubi Point in the Philippines was selected.   Civilian contractors were approached for bids. After seeing the Zambales Mountains and the maze of jungle, they claimed it could not be done. The Navy then turned to the Seabees. The first to arrive was CBD 1802 to do the surveying. MCB 3 arrived on 2 October 1951 to get the project going and was joined by MCB 5 in November. Over the next five years, MCBs 2, 7, 9, 11 and CBD 1803 all contributed to the effort. They leveled a mountain to make way for a nearly 2-mile long (3.2 km) runway. NAS Cubi Point turned out to be one of the largest earth-moving projects in the world, equivalent to the construction of the Panama Canal. Seabees there moved 20 million cubic yards (15 million cubic metres) of dry fill plus another 15 million that was hydraulic fill. The $100 million facility was commissioned on 25 July 1956, and comprised an air station and an adjacent pier that was capable of docking the Navy's largest carriers. Adjusted-for-inflation, today's price-tag for what the Seabees built at Cubi Point would be $906,871,323.53.
  Seabee Teams 
  The WWII precursor to Seabee teams was the PT Advance base Detachment of the 113th CB.  Each man was cross-trained in at least three trades with some qualified as corpsmen and divers.  The first Seabees to be actually be referred to as "Seabee Teams" were CBD 1802 and CBD 1803. They were followed by Detachments Able and Baker.  Then someone in the U.S. State Department learned of these teams and had an idea for making "good use" of the Seabees in the Cold War.  Teams could be sent as "U.S. Good Will Ambassadors" to third world nations as a means to combat the spread of Communism and promote "Good Will", a military version of the Peace Corps. These 13 man teams would construct schools, drill wells or build clinics creating a positive image or rapport for the U.S.  They were utilized by the United States Agency for International Development and were in S.E. Asia by the mid 1950s. Then in the early sixties the U.S. Army Special Forces were being sent into rural areas of South Vietnam to develop a self-defense force to counter the Communist threat and making use of the Seabee teams at these same places made sense to the CIA. To start, twelve "Seabee teams, with Secret Clearances, were sent with the Army's Special Forces in the CIA funded Civilian Irregular Defense Group program (CIDG)" in the years 1963–1965. By 1965 the U.S. Army had enough engineers in theater to end Seabee involvement with Special Forces.  At first teams were called Seabee Technical Assistance Teams (STAT) and were restricted to two in theater at a time. Teams after STAT 1104 were renamed Seabee Teams and by 1969 there were 17 in theater.  As a military force Seabee Teams received many awards for heroism. Teams were sent to other nations as well. The Royal Thai government requested STATs in 1963 and ever since the Seabees have continued to deploy teams.
  Construction Civic Action Details or CCAD
  CCADs or "See-Kads" are larger civic action units of 20–25 Seabees with the same purpose as Seabee Teams. The CCAD designation is not found in the record prior to 2013.
caption: Suspension bridge built by NMCB 5 CCAD in Timor-Leste 2015 (Seabee Museum)
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