Military

First Naval Construction Division

On 09 August 2002 the First Naval Construction Division was established at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, VA. Rear Adm. Charles Kubic, commander of Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific Division, became the top Seabee. The new alignment revamped a decade-old structure in which Atlantic Fleet Seabees reported to the Second Naval Construction Brigade in Norfolk, while Pacific Seabees fell under Third Naval Construction Brigade, Pearl Harbor. Those two brigades were decommissioned and replaced by the new organization. Kubic reports to Adm. Robert Natter, head of Fleet Forces Command, along with Pacific Fleet and Naval Forces Europe commanders.

This new Seabee command will be commissioned Aug. 9 and will unify Atlantic and Pacific Naval Construction Forces, providing a single command interface with both fleets for global Seabee operations, requirements and policy.

The mission of 1st Naval Construction Division will be to organize, train, operate and maintain the Naval Construction Force; to command and control Naval Construction Regiments; and to develop, coordinate and implement policy and requirements to man, equip and train Seabees.

A sub-element, known as the 1st Naval Construction Division Forward, will be established at Pearl Harbor. The commander of the 30th Naval Construction Regiment will be assigned additional duty as officer in charge of the division. The two active and four reserve operational regiments will be realigned under 1st Naval Construction Division, and the 22nd NCR will be relocated from Little Creek to Gulfport, Miss.

The two active training regiments, the 20th NCR in Gulfport and 30th NCR in Pearl Harbor, will take on a new focus as the Seabee Readiness Group Atlantic and Seabee Readiness Group Pacific. The commanding officers of the Naval Construction Battalion Centers in Gulfport and Port Hueneme, Calif., will serve additional duty as commanders of the respective Seabee Readiness Groups.