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Reserve Seabees Provide Super Support Through Super Storm

By Journalist 2nd Class Leslie Shively, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 22 Public Affairs

Story Number: NNS030205-04
Release Date: 2/5/2003 12:01:00 PM

GUAM (NNS) -- "First the electricity went out. Then the rain came, then the wind. It was raining so much, and the wind was blowing so fast, the rain looked like a mist. The walls were sweating, the ceilings were sweating," said Construction Electrician 1st Class David Benavides, describing his experience during Typhoon Pongsona in the barracks at West Camp Covington.

Pongsona tracked directly over the camp, bringing winds exceeding 180 mph for nearly six hours late last year.

Benavides and other reservists with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 22 were spending annual training supporting NMCB-74 with several projects on the base. But after the super storm, Seabees directed their efforts toward damage repair and storm cleanup.

NMCB-22 members organized damage assessment teams with NMCB-74, moving throughout the camp recording amounts and severity of damage.

Conditions worsened. "A day later the water ran out. We went without water for about four days," explained Benavides.

Nevertheless, recovery on base was swift. The camp went into round-the-clock operations, with all personnel on 12-hour shifts. Equipment operators delivered water, operated dump trucks, cleared roads and moved generators. Construction mechanics repaired equipment. Headquarters company mopped up the barracks.

Reserve Seabees assisted in restoring electricity to the camp, at base headquarters on Nimitz Hill, the galley and then in the barracks.

"One night, they had us go to the commissary," said Benavides. "They had a huge generator... that wouldn't start. It was just trashed out. The fuel had water in it, and the oil might have had water in it, too."

Benavides and fellow NMCB-22 reservists, Construction Electrician 3rd Class Ann Riley, Construction Electrician 3rd Class Jesus Munoz, along with several NMCB-74 members and Sailors from USS Frank Cable (AS 40), removed a generator from the docks, towed it to the commissary and installed it.

"It was the biggest generator I've seen. It was probably the size of a one-ton pick up truck - they had to use two huge forklifts," said Benavides

In the middle of storm clean up, NMCB-74 received orders to mobilize, leaving approximately 50 personnel at West Camp Covington. Reserve Seabees took the lead in camp operations, and NMCB-22 was pivotal in helping NMCB-74 prepare for deployment.

"They worked pretty hard the last couple of months on getting people and equipment ready for redeployment," said Lt. Angel Santiago. He said Reservists are doing camp maintenance, including Alpha Company CESE (Civil Engineer Support Equipment) operations, maintenance and repairs.

Based in Fort Worth, Texas, the battalion has Reservists from Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Arizona. Members also travel from Utah and Colorado for weekend drills.