• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

NMCB 11 Keeps Rolling in Ethiopia

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS090314-08
Release Date: 3/14/2009 8:33:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Erick S. Holmes

DIRE DAWA, Ethiopia (NNS) -- Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11 continue renovating an auditorium for the Dire Dawa Secondary School in Ethiopia.

Seabees are laying tile across the 4,300-square-foot floor and have plans to replace the roof. The crew hit some speed bumps during the renovation, ranging from having no electricity to using mismatched tile sizes- but they are still ahead of schedule.

"We found a technique for the laying the tile that works," explained Builder 3rd Class John Vetter, a crew member. "According to Construction Battalion Construction Management, the computer program we use to track our project's progress and calculate man-hours, we did fourteen days of work in three days."

"Once we get moving, it's actually hard to stop," said Constructionman Scott Bishop, who explained the crew's focus and determination to finish the school project on schedule.

Once the auditorium is finished, it will provide a large location for plays, public speeches and other gatherings.

"Most of the troops are green," said Builder 1st Class (SCW) Jeffery Dwyer, project mission commander. "But they stay motivated and very resourceful for the task at hand."

"We have worked late and through lunch multiple times without even realizing it," said Bishop. "All of us just want to see the project to the end that much."

Dire Dawa Secondary School is one of four schools - in three countries - NMCB 11 is working on while assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) Area of Responsibility.

The service members of CJTF-HOA, headquartered in Djibouti, employ an indirect approach to counter violent extremism. Through a strategy of cooperative conflict prevention the task force helps build the internal capacities of countries at risk to prevail against extremists exploiting instability.

For more news from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11, visit www.navy.mil/local/nmcb11.