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NMCB 3 Builds Roads, British Relationships in Afghanistan

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS101216-15
12/16/2010

By Chief Mass Communication Specialist Jesse Sherwin, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 Public Affairs

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan (NNS) -- Two detachments of Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3 began construction operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, Dec. 15 in direct support of British and NATO forces.

The two detachments, named Detachment Trident and Detachment Maiwand, were established Dec. 6 and began the extensive staging process of food, materials and equipment for the missions that left the shelter of Camp Leatherneck.

Detachment Trident was established to finish a 19-kilometer road that was started by the British Royal Engineers with the support of local Afghan labor. The British finished two-thirds of the road but requested the help of the Seabees to finish the task.

"The project will take about 30 days to complete," said Lt. Benjamin Turner, Detachment Trident officer-in-charge. "The British were using local labor but because this section is pretty isolated, with regard to proximity to villages, the Seabees were called in to finish up the project."

"The road will be used by Afghan National Police stations for security patrols and commercial traffic more than anything," said Turner. "The actual road construction will consist of placing Neo-web material over the existing dirt road, which allows the stabilization of loose soil and ground with a lot of clay. It gives a solid layer to build on and according to research, it makes it more difficult to plant improvised explosive devices (IEDs)."

Several miles northeast of Detachment Trident, NMCB 3's Detachment Maiwand was established to construct a 150-man base in the Maiwand District, right on the border of Kandahar and Helmand provinces. The Seabees will be building a helicopter landing pad, guard towers and an entry control point for the British forces that will occupy the base.

"We will be living in tents, we will not have any showers, and we will be eating packaged MREs (meals ready to eat). But we will be done within three weeks, shortly after Christmas," said Lt. j.g. Hendrick Schoeman, Detachment Maiwand officer-in-charge.

"We are ready to go," said Builder 3rd Class (SCW) Jacob Kusay, an NMCB 3 Convoy Security Element (CSE) team member. "We have been preparing for this and missions like it since we started homeport months ago."

While December 2010 marked the official stand up of the two detachments, the preparation for these missions outside of the safety of Camp Leatherneck can be tracked back as far as April 15 when NMCB 3's CSE team started advanced counter IED training at Point Mugu, Calif.

"Members of the CSE team will be doing a lot of the work," said Kusay. "We are getting down to what we are supposed to do - convoy operations, maintaining security and, of course, building."

NMCB 3 is part of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command's warfighting support elements, providing construction operations and security in support of overseas contingency operations.