Naval Mobile Construction Battalion One Naval Mobile Construction Battalion ONE ( NMCB 1 ) , is a United States Navy Seabee battalion . NMCB 1 has a long , proud and distinguished history that reaches back to the early days of World War II . History . Commissioned on March 15 , 1942 as Naval Construction Battalion One ( NCB ) , the Battalion was soon split into two detachments and sent into service in the South Pacific . World War II through Vietnam . NMCB One operated in the South Pacific for 23 months , mostly in the vicinity of the Tonga and Samoan Islands . During this time , various detachments built runways , base facilities , gun emplacements , fuel and oil storage tank farms as well as various other projects . With operations in the South Pacific drawing to a close , the Battalion was sent home and decommissioned in June 1944 . In 1949 , the Navy began an intense reorganization that included the creation of a new type of construction unit – the Mobile Construction Battalion . On August 8 , 1949 , U . S . Naval Mobile Construction Battalion One was established at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek , Virginia and was formally commissioned on October 28 of that same year . Homeport changed for the Battalion in 1951 when it moved from Little Creek to Davisville , Rhode Island . During the ensuing years , the Battalion served at Puerto Rico ; Guantanamo Bay , Cuba ; Bermuda ; Port Lyautey , French Morocco ; Argentia , Newfoundland ; and Rota , Spain . In 1956 , the Battalion went to Antarctica and participated in Operation Deep Freeze II . During this time , NMCB One with its detachments was simultaneously employed on six continents . NMCB One returned to Antarctica in 1961 , this time to assemble a nuclear power plant and work on 17 projects for which the Battalion received the Navy Unit Commendation . NMCB One was the first Atlantic Fleet Battalion to take part in the Vietnam War . From 1966 to 1970 , the Battalion made four consecutive deployments to Vietnam . During this time , four NMCB One members made the ultimate sacrifice serving their country . Their names were Constructionman Starkey , Steelworker 3rd Class Williams , Chief Builder McGinn , and Lieutenant Junior Grade Moscrip . 1970s through present . In 1974 NMCB One was the last Battalion to deploy from Davisville . When the Battalion returned from Rota , it settled down in its new home at the Naval Construction Battalion Center ( Gulfport , Mississippi ) . NMCB One 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 One redeployed from Rota to Somalia to conduct construction in support of Operation Restore Hope . A 180 - person detachment from NMCB One deployed to Bosnia - Herzegovina in December 1997 to support Operation Joint Guard . NMCB One returned to the Balkans when a 97 - person detachment deployed to Kosovo in December 1999 as part of Task Force Falcon . During their 2000 European deployment , Detail Souda Bay conducted 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 , where it performed various peacetime construction operations across the Pacific . Upon arriving in Okinawa , the Battalion immediately redeployed a 102 - person Air Detachment to Basilan Island , Republic of the Philippines , in support of Operation Enduring Freedom . Under hostile conditions , the Air Det improved roads , drilled water wells , built bridges and base camps and rebuilt a dilapidated timber pier . During its 2003 – 2004 Pacific Deployment , “ The First and The Finest ” made history by being the first NMCB to have deployed to two main - body deployment sites in Rota , Spain and on Guam . NMCB One performed peacetime construction operations in the Atlantic , European , Pacific and Central Command Areas of Responsibility , while simultaneously deploying its Air Det to Iraq in support of Iraqi Freedom . In September 2004 , NMCB One performed disaster recovery operations at NAS Pensacola following Hurricane Ivan . For its 2005 European deployment NMCB One and its details served in twelve countries throughout Europe , Africa , Asia , and the Caribbean , and once again deployed its Air Det to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom . Immediately upon returning to homeport in August 2005 , the Battalion commenced substantial disaster recovery operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina . In June 2006 , NMCB One deployed to 20 sites in 9 countries as part of their Pacific deployment . The Battalion performed peacetime construction operations 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 , following a successful homeport , the Battalion deployed to 16 different sites throughout CENTCOM , PACOM , and NORTHCOM . NMCB One provided contingency construction and engineering in support of both Operation Iraqi Freedom II and Operation Enduring Freedom , in Iraq and Afghanistan . While supporting the mission in CENTCOM , the Battalion also conducted peacetime construction operations in Guam and San Nicolas Island ( SNI ) , CA . Notably , the 120 Seabees in Guam and SNI redeployed to join the rest of the Battalion in support of the CENTCOM missions midway through deployment . Awards . A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited . Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the awarded unit citation . The NMCB 1 has been presented with the following awards :