page_title: Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1
section_title: 1970s through present
hierarchical_section_title: Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1 / History / 1970s through present
caption_attribution_description: English: GULFPORT, Miss. (Sept. 24, 2007) - Chief Equipment Operator Orlando Phillips, attached to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1, gives instruction to the Seabees of "The First and Finest" as they ready to depart Gulfport on a scheduled deployment. NMCB-1 is deploying to several locations in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Micronesia to provide responsive military construction support to U.S. Military operations. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Chad Runge (RELEASED)
context_page_description: Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1, is a United States Navy Seabee battalion. NMCB 1 has a long, proud and distinguished history as the very first Naval Construction Battalion of the service that would become known as the Seabees.
context_section_description: From the fall of 1971 through early summer of 1972, NMCB 1 was the second battalion to occupy and construct the British Indian Ocean Territory station on Diego Garcia. They relieved Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40, who had landed, nine months earlier, on the island by LSDs and LSTs. They constructed the facilities that NMCB 1 would complete over their nine-month deployment.  The runway that NMCB 1's advanced party landed on in  C-130s was 3000 feet long. When MCB 1 left, the runway was 11,500 feet.  It was at grade and ready for NMCB 62 to pour,  50'wide x 12"thick x 11,500'long in concrete. NMCB 1 also made the concrete silos for storing the cement to pour the runway. The Battalion also prepared the aggregate piles by blasting and mining coral and rock, crushing it and stock piling it for 62's use. The pile was over 500 feet tall, creating a mountainous hill on the island, whereas the average elevation had originally been 6.5 feet above sea level.
  In 1974 NMCB 1 was the last Battalion to deploy from Davisville.  When the Battalion returned from Rota, it was to Naval Construction Battalion Center, Gulfport, Mississippi.
  1983 Beirut barracks bombing:
  On 23 October 1983 a truck laden with explosives was driven into the U.S. Marine's peacekeeping force barracks in Beirut.  Killed were: 220 Marines, 18 USN, 3 U.S. Army with 80 seriously wounded.   NMCB 1 quickly deployed a 42-man det to construct bunkers for the Marines.  An additional 40 men were sent to get the job done
  NMCB 1 sent two details in 1990 to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. The following year, the Battalion provided disaster relief following super typhoons on Guam and American Samoa. Upon returning to homeport in May 1992, the Battalion was again providing disaster relief, this time in South Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. In December 1992, NMCB 1  redeployed from Rota to Somalia in support of Operation Restore Hope.
  A 180-person detachment was sent to Bosnia-Herzegovina in December 1997 to support Operation Joint Guard. NMCB 1 returned to the Balkans  when a 97-person detachment arrived in Kosovo tasked to Task Force Falcon in December 1999. During the 2000 European deployment, Detail Souda Bay assisted disaster recovery operations in remote Crete villages following torrential rains.
  In June 2002, the Battalion deployed to Okinawa, Japan for the first time since 1987, with construction projects across the Pacific. Upon arriving in Okinawa, the Battalion immediately sent an Air-Det of 102 Seabees to Basilan Island, in the PI, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Under hostile conditions, the Air-Det improved roads, drilled wells, built bridges and base camps and rebuilt a timber pier.
  During its 2003–2004 Pacific Deployment, the Battalion became the first CB to have two main-body deployment sites: Rota, Spain and Guam. NMCB 1 had construction operations in the Atlantic, European, Pacific and Central Command Areas of Responsibility, while deploying its Air-Det in support of Iraqi Freedom.  In September 2004, NMCB 1 assisdisaster recovery operations at NAS Pensacola following Hurricane Ivan.
  For the 2005 European deployment NMCB 1 had details tasked in twelve countries throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. The Air Det returned to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Hurricane Katrina disaster recovery operations greeted ONE's return to homeport in August 2005.
  In June 2006, NMCB 1 deployed to 20 sites in 9 countries as part of their Pacific deployment. The Battalion was tasked with construction projects in Okinawa, Atsugi, Sasebo, Yokosuka, Iwakuni, Fuji, Chinhae, Pohang, Diego Garcia, Camp Pendleton, and San Clemente Island, contingency operations in Pohnpei, Indonesia, Philippines, and Afghanistan, and prison detainee operations in Iraq.
  In September 2007 the Battalion deployed to 16 different sites throughout CENTCOM, PACOM, and NORTHCOM. NMCB 1 provided contingency construction and engineering support to both Operation Iraqi Freedom II and Operation Enduring Freedom.
caption: US Navy 070924-N-3857R-003 Chief EO Orlando Phillips, NMCB 1 gives instruction
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