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First Naval Construction Division to be Decommissioned

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS130530-12
5/30/2013

By Daryl C. Smith

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- The First Naval Construction Division (1NCD), after over a decade of globally overseeing Navy Seabee efforts, will be decommissioned during a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk, May 31.

Rear Admiral Mark A. Handley, 1NCD commanding officer, will also retire during the ceremony.

The guest speaker will be Admiral William E. Gortney, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. The decommissioning is part of a reorganization designed to improve headquarters alignment and consolidate the direct, formal relationship between the expeditionary forces and Fleet Forces Command/Pacific Fleet.

The 1NCD staff will be integrated into Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) to acclimate to the one Type Commander for all expeditionary forces, including to gain efficiencies by combining headquarters functions into one staff.

The newly created Naval Construction Groups (NCGs) in Gulfport, Miss. and Port Hueneme, Calif., now in the East and West Coast continuity for the Naval Construction Force (NCF), have inherited some of the previous 1NCD functions.

1NCD, located at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek/Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Va., was commissioned on Aug. 9, 2002 to organize, train, operate and maintain the NCF; to command and control Naval Construction Regiments; and to develop, coordinate and implement policy and requirements to man, equip and train Seabees.

Since originating, 1NCD has overseen a wide range of wartime, peacetime, humanitarian and disaster relief efforts around the world.

In 2003, the 1NCD deployed thousands of Seabees to Kuwait and Iraq, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and also deployed to the region as a command element for the Marine Engineer Group (MEG), in support of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

Seabee accomplishments included constructing a 20-acre airfield parking apron, two munitions storage areas, a 48,000 square-foot concrete pad, six bridges and five culvert crossings, a 32-kilometer road, and a 14,400-person prisoner-of-war camp.

In 2005, the 1NCD Seabees responded to the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina devastation. Over 3,300 Seabees responded quickly to repair more than 100 schools, remove 20,000 tons of debris, and clear 750 miles of roads.

As the national strategy focus changed, 1NCD lifted and shifted over 10,680 tons of equipment and 1,517 Seabees from Iraq to Afghanistan in 2009.

Starting in January 2010, 1NCD supported the surge of 30,000 additional troops into Afghanistan with one regiment and four battalions. With over 2,500 Seabees in Afghanistan, they completed more than 625 projects including new forward operating bases and combat outposts.

The 1NCD Seabees remained heavily involved in projects to promote peace through Theater Security Cooperation Programs (TSCP) in various countries around the world. Small groups of Seabees built and repaired schools and medical clinics, drilled water wells, and completed various other construction projects to improve the quality of life for people in need.

The devastation from Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record to strike the coasts of New York and New Jersey, prompted the 1NCD Seabees to help remove debris, clear roads, and repair waterfront facilities.

Rear Adm. Handley, the commander of 1NCD since Oct. 23, 2009, will retire after 32 years of Navy service. Previously, he was the vice commander for Navy Installations Command and Director of Shore Readiness for Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Logistics.)