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NMCB 3 Maiwand Detachment Builds Patrol Base for British Troops

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS110103-01
1/3/2011

By CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan

Chief Mass Communication Specialist Jesse A Sherwin, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 Public Affairs (NNS) -- On Dec. 29th 31 Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3 returned to the safety of Camp Leatherneck after spending 17 days building a patrol base in the Maiwand District of Afghanistan.

On Dec. 12 the detachment departed Camp Krutke, the Seabee camp within Camp Leatherneck, via convoy and began construction of the patrol base.

"In the past, this area has been considered no man's land and thus has had a lot of IED (Improvised Explosive Devices) hits," said Chief Builder (SCW) Andy Buckingham, the detachment's Assistant Officer in Charge. "Since the base has been built, there has already been a drastic decrease in IEDs along this section of Highway 1, just because of our presence."

Lashkar Gah Duri Junction Patrol Base is the proposed name for the 200 by 150 meter base built approximately halfway between the coalition bases in Kandahar and Camp Leatherneck. The base was built to accommodate the British Forces who patrol Highway 1.

"It was truly the chance of a lifetime," said Builder 3rd Class (SCW) Steven Szyplinski. "We got to experience building a base from ground up. When we arrived in the area there was nothing there but a gas station, a bus stop and desert. For the first few days we were maintaining security with the British because we were working outside the wire, and we could easily have been attacked."

When the Seabees arrived to the area, the first thing that they did was to coordinate their security perimeter with the British. Between the detachment's gun trucks and what the British had in place, the troops from both nations were able to establish and maintain a 360 degree security perimeter, enabling the Seabees to safely start construction operations.

The first order of business after establishing security was to mine proof the area. This included using a bulldozer with a mine rake attachment to rake up the area for potential mines or explosive hazards. "Fortunately, we didn't find any [explosives]," said Buckingham. "We did manage to dig up some pipe and that caused some worry but an EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) team came out and verified that it was just pipe. Once the area was raked clear of mines, we started 24 hour operations and our equipment did not stop working the entire time we were out there."

The first part of the base construction consisted of placing hundreds of dirt-filled, wire-framed, and cloth-encased security barriers called HESCOs all around and inside of the base. The rest of the construction included building a helicopter landing pad, four guard towers, two entry control points, roads and other miscellaneous support structures.

"As we got more of the HESCO barriers up, we were able to focus more on construction than on security. That is when we started to build the guard towers," said Szyplinski.

The detachment managed to take a half day pause on December 25 for Christmas to enjoy some steaks that were convoyed over from Camp Krutke. The food was cooked on the wire frames of HESCO barriers as the British handed out some small gifts to the junior Seabees. After the meal, the British patrol unit commander and his Command Sergeant Major came by to thank the Seabees for their work on the base.

The mission was a great success and truly demonstrated the capabilities of NMCB 3, but the Seabees were glad to be back, and just in time for the New Year. They had been eating cold, prepackaged Meals, Ready to Eat and toughing out the chilly Afghan winter.

"For the first few days we had to sleep in shifts in the MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles," said Chief Hospital Corpsman (FMF) Joseph Haner. "It was a really good detachment and I had nothing to do, but that is a good thing, for a corpsman."

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.