We should all live so long — and well
January 31st, 2012 | Amphibious operations Historical Marine Corps Navy Photos Seabees SEALs SURFLANT World War II | Posted by Bill McMichael
Reaching 100 years of age is remarkable enough. But the Navy made it extra special for a former Navy Seabee Dec. 2.
Retired Capt. James R. Mims, the nation’s oldest living Seabee, was made an honorary member of Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 by the unit’s top sailor, Command Master Chief (SCW) Johnny DeSarro, during Mims’ 100th birthday party, held at the Oaks Country Club in Richmond, Va.. Mims also received a U.S. flag flown over the Capitol building, a birthday greeting from President Obama and a very cool commemorative paddle.
Retired Capt. James R. Mims stands with Command Master Chief (SCW) Johnny DeSarro (left) and Senior Chief Builder John Woolston, PHIBCB 2 Operations Chief, at his 100th birthday party after receiving a commemorative paddle custom-designed by Woolston. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW/AW) Jonathan Pankau
Mims has experienced some remarkable moments in his life. In DeSarro’s words, Mims “served at Okinawa during World War II, swore in the first 25 frogmen, known today as Navy SEALs, and met and spoke with Adm. Ben Moreell” — the father of the Seabees.
DeSarro wanted to hear more about all that, so he returned to Richmond Dec. 19 to meet Mims at his hangout — a local restaurant called Joe’s Inn, where Mims goes every Friday for a meeting of the Bon Air Rotary Club — where he has a 56-year perfect attendance record.
Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 Command Master Chief (SCW) Johnny DeSarro and retired Navy Capt. James R. Mims sits down for breakfast at Joe's Inn, a local Richmond restaurant, during a Dec. 19 meeting discuss his history and experiences as the world's oldest Seabee. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW/AW) Jonathan Pankau
Naval Surface Force Atlantic released the Mims story on the day after the start of Bold Alligator, the largest Navy-Marine Corps amphibious exercise in a decade. The timing was splendid because Mims had some stories to tell about one of the biggest amphibious assaults in history.
Mims was a Civil Engineer Corps cargo officer during that mission and his task that day was to rendezvous with the main Seabee camp, according to the story, by SURFLANT Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW/AW) Jonathan Pankau.
“We rode on a (Landing Ship Tank) from Saipan to Okinawa in 1945 on an Easter Sunday morning,” Mims told Pankau. “There were 1,400 ships in that operation and we had some Marines in an Army DUKW (a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck used for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks) heading for the east side of the island,” said Mims.
Their mission was to trick the enemy by drawing fire to their location on the eastern coast of Okinawa and to delay Japanese reserve troops, according to Pankau. The main landing force assaulted the beach on the western coast that Easter Sunday, supported by the 2nd Marine Battalion’s effective decoy tactics.
“About halfway to the shore we started drawing fire so the LST driver turned around to lay down a smoke screen,” Mims told Pankau. “We repeated this several times to draw the fire away from the west. The Army guy driving the LST wouldn’t go all the way to the beach so we had to jump out and wade through the water while the enemy was laying down strafing fire by us.”
Exhaustion set in after two days of combat without sleep and Mims found an abandoned fox hole to take shelter in. As he looked up from his fox hole, a formation of Japanese fighter planes passed overhead.
“I don’t know whether they were kamikazes or what but they flew so low I could see the first pilot’s face. I’ll never forget the smile on his face,” Mims told Pankau.
Earlier, Mims had a brush with another seminal moment in naval history: The forming of the Navy SEALs.
Today’s SEALs trace their lineage to a group of volunteers selected from the Seabees in the spring of 1943, according to Naval Special Warfare Command. Mims was the enlisting officer for the first 25 frogmen, according to the story.
“I was at Camp Perry at the time and a lieutenant said to me ‘I want you to go out there and swear in those frogmen.’ And so, as a junior lieutenant, I went out there and swore them in and then I said, ‘What’s a frogman?’ Turns out they were the beginning of the SEALs.”
Mims had no idea that he swore in the original 25 frogmen until he saw a familiar name in an obituary in the Richmond paper naming one of the first frogmen. He later saw them in action and described the night operation he witnessed, where the frogmen pulled onto the beach in rubber rafts. They performed reconnaissance missions and set up targets for bombing and troop placements. Mims laughed, Pankau wrote, as he recalled the sign they left up for the Marines that said, “What kept you?”
DeSarro said that making a Mims an honorary member of the unit was special.
“We (Seabees) are fiercely proud of our heritage and we are very protective of anything that ties us to our history,” DeSarro said. “Making the paddle for him ties us back, in a big way, to our legacy and our heritage.
“Everything we do as Seabees, we do to live up to the expectations of our predecessors,” he said. “We bear the burden of carrying on the Seabee tradition that men like Capt. Mims laid out before us.”
Bring your earplugs
April 7th, 2011 | C-5 Galaxy Combat support Construction Logistics Naval Expeditionary Logistics Center Navy NECC Seabees | Posted by Bill McMichael
Maybe it’s a guy thing. But I, for one, would like to see the Navy’s new Expeditionary Rock Crusher in action. Look at this bad boy! The crusher/rock impactor and plant together weigh approximately 119,300 lbs., which is child’s play for a C-5 Galaxy. It fits, as you can see. And now, it’s certified to be loaded and shipped anywhere Seabees operate.
The Expeditionary Rock Crusher is loaded into a C-5 during certification testing in January at Travis Air Force Base, Calif. // Photo courtesy of Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center
Seabees can build anything, but one thing they build a lot of is roads and airstrips for the Navy and Marines. That’s where the ERC comes in.
“The Expeditionary Rock crusher bridges the gap between war debris or rubble and a useful construction project,” explains John Lemmond, First Naval Construction Division, Civil Engineer Support Equipment readiness program manager. “The Seabees take that mineral-based pile of war debris and recycle it into usable construction products like aggregate for asphalt and concrete and other construction materials.”
Previously, the Seabees couldn’t easily deploy a rock crusher, and had to rely on local raw materials and suppliers to produce much of the stuff for their construction projects. Now, they can deploy the ERC and create their own mineral base products for concrete and asphalt that meet their high standards.
Here’s the full-on view:
The Navy's Expeditionary Rock Crusher is a mobile, triple axle, rock crusher manufactured by the Eagle Crusher Company. // Photo courtesy of Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center
The machine is essentially a militarized, field-painted version of the commercial Eagle 1200-25CC with the UM25 impactor. The Naval Construction Force — the Seabees’ parent command — owns four of them so far, according to the Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center. They haven’t yet been fielded, but Seabees will begin using them this summer, NFELC says.
It’s a dirty job
September 2nd, 2010 | Photos Seabees | Posted by Phil Ewing
Despite what you may have heard, being a Seabee isn’t all watercress sandwiches and string quartets — sometimes you have to get down into the mud to get the job done. MC2 Michael Lindsey has captured that side of the lifestyle perfectly in this image of NMCB 74′s Lt j.g. Victor Wong, who used the empty bag from a meal, ready-to-eat to bail out his foxhole in Camp Shelby, Miss. Let’s hope the rain held off.
Seven in Seven
April 16th, 2010 | Aviation Carriers Congress Foreign navies leadership Maritime operations Navy Personnel Seabees Ships Submarines The greenside The Middle East The Pacific Uniforms Washington | Posted by Lance Bacon
Boatswains Mate Seaman Apprentice Jacob Starks salutes during a burial at sea ceremony on the flight deck of the frigate Klakring, which is on a six-month deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean as part of Southern Seas 2010. (photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Darryl Wood)
The Navy nabbed a lot of headlines again this week. Leading the way is news that the Navy’s 10th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock will be named for Rep. John Murtha – a story first reported by Scoop Deck’s own Phillip Ewing. An unfortunate T-39 crash killed four in Georgia also made headlines, as did the Thursday announcement that changes were coming to the performance evaluation system and advancement policy (check Monday’s Navy Times for more on that). And the president also reaffirmed his 2011 Afghan withdrawal plan this week.
Here’s seven stories in seven minutes from the past seven days that you may not have seen, but are worthy of notice:
Seven in Seven
April 9th, 2010 | Aviation Carriers Life at Sea Maritime operations Navy NECC Pirates Science and technology Seabees Ships The greenside | Posted by Lance Bacon
The Navy kicked off the month by kicking pirate butt in three foiled attacks. The stories that nabbed most other headlines this week included the Nuclear Posture Review, which was all the talk in the beltway; F-35 training, which continues despite problems getting the jets; the Fire Scout, which scored its first drug bust; the smoking ban on subs and the Navy’s decision to restrict the wear of ball caps and coveralls.
Here’s seven stories in seven minutes from the past seven days that you may not have seen, but are worthy of notice:
Just Call it ‘Can-Do Kung Fu’
March 31st, 2010 | Navy NECC Seabees The greenside The Middle East | Posted by Lance Bacon
Seabees assigned to NMCB 74 participate in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. (Photo by MC2 Michael Lindsey)
The Seabees of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 can really pack a punch.
When they catch a break from ops in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan, they focus on hand-to-hand and close-quarters combat techniques taught in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.
Two Seabees endured three months of gruelling, accelerated training to become instructors. One is EA2 Erik Kennerson, who wants to award at least 18 tan belts before rotating this summer. You can read about their efforts here.
The tan belt requires two hours of training a day, four days a week. Students learn punches, throws, chokes, weapons of opportunity and knife /bayonet techniques.
So you better think twice before you try to take that bulldozer for a joyride.
Happy Birthday, Seabees!
March 5th, 2010 | Historical Navy NECC Seabees | Posted by Lance Bacon
Today we celebrate the 68th birthday of the “Can-Do” construction battalions. Happy birthyday to all the brave men and women who have been a part of this honorable heritage.
Did you know:
- The earliest Seabees were recruited from the civilian construction trades.
- Because of the emphasis on experience and skill rather than on physical standards, the average age of WW II Seabees was 37.
- More than 325,00 men served with the Seabees in WW II on six continents and more than 300 islands.
- Between 1949 and 1953, Naval Construction Battalions were organized into two types of units: Amphibious Construction Battalions and Naval Mobile Construction Battalions.
- The Seabees were part of the Inchon landing.
- Providing much needed assistance in the wake of a devastating earthquake in Greece in 1953 was among the first missions that led the Seabees to become “The Navy’s Goodwill Ambassadors.”
- The Seabees began their largest peacetime construction on Diego Garcia in 1971. This project took 11 years and cost $200 million.
- More than 5,000 Seabees served in the Gulf War. In Saudi Arabia, Seabees built 10 camps for more than 42,000 personnel; 14 galleys capable of feeding 75,000 people; and 6 million square feet of aircraft parking apron.
- While their history is still being writte in OIF and OEF, the Seabees have proven to be of immeasurable worth. They have built numerous 20-acre aircraft-parking aprons, munitions storage areas, bridges and bases.
Naval Expeditionary Forces Symposium underway
March 2nd, 2010 | Historical leadership Maritime operations Personnel Pirates Seabees | Posted by Lance Bacon
True to the nature of the sailors and officers who comprise the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, the fourth annual Naval Expeditionary Forces Symposium and Expo opened Tuesday morning in Virginia Beach with the announcement that two key speakers would be absent. They had been called away to meet emerging tasks – but two replacements were prepped and ready before attendees ever knew there was an issue.
Discussions were somewhat bitter sweet. While speakers noted how current operations in the war zone and humanitarian missions such as the one in Haiti have validated the need for NECC, there remained an undercurrent of frustration among attendees that the command needs any validation at all. Some 95 percent of the specialties that comprise NECC have existed since World War II, and are among the most heavily demanded sailors and officers. Yet they historically have been at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to recognition and funding. It’s not hard to see why – the command has no ships, subs or aircraft. As such, these units are often orphaned when the big budgets are doled out.
But NECC has come a long way. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead has placed an identifiable priority on these sailors and missions. Indeed, they are at the heart of his recently released irregular warfare directives.
And as Rear Adm. Carol Pottenger, NECC commander, addressed future funding needs, she was no Oliver Twist hoping for a few more scraps. Her strategic plan is getting attention. Here are her “Top 15” of the 85 Science and Technology Objectives laid out:
- Improved protection for individuals
- RPG defense for watercraft and vehicles
- Tactical, autonomous or semi-autonomous mobile sensor platforms
- Advanced lethal waterborne weapons for use against small, fast watercraft and vehicles
- Stand-off detection of explosive hazards (underwater/land)
- Enhanced lightweight armor systems for watercraft
- Advanced non-lethal, non-destructive waterborne platform stopping/repelling capability
- Persistent and scalable unattended maritime sensor networks
- Scalable, mobile, secure OTH digital communication networks
- Swimmer defeat
- Hardened expeditionary facilities and infrastructure
- Persistent and scalable unattended ground sensor networks
- Advanced power sources for field applications
- Advanced high-fidelity, fixed and field-exportable expeditionary training and simulation
- Intelligent expeditionary installation security
It’s a big job
March 2nd, 2010 | Maritime operations merchant ships Seabees | Posted by Phil Ewing
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus surveyed damage to the port of Port-au-Prince Monday at the water's edge in Haiti // MC2 Kevin O'Brien / Navy
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Seabee Capt. Cliff Maurer, who has been helping oversee the efforts to get this harbor operating after its docks and cranes were wrecked by January’s earthquake, summed up the basic cause of all its problems:
“This is all really poor-grade fill material,” he said, pointing to the harbor’s north pier, which was collapsed into the water in clumps like brown sugar. “When the shock waves came through here, this all just liquefied. This will all have to be demo’d and rebuilt.”
In the meantime, Seabees and Army engineers — some of whom have a cool shoulder tab that says “Sapper” — have rigged a set of barges out into the water between Haiti’s two previous piers. On Monday the bulk cargo carrier Tharinee Naree, out of Bankok, was docked on the barge-pier and getting ready to unload.
Scoop Deck’s colleagues Joe Gould and Chris Maddaloni just filed a really comprehensive report about the effort to rebuild Port au Prince’s harbor, which you can check out here. Highly recommended.
They build, they fight — you watch
January 29th, 2010 | Seabees The Middle East | Posted by Phil Ewing
A camera crew from "National Geographic Explorer" interviewed Ensign Eric Julius of NMCB 74 at Camp Leatherneck in September // MC2 Michael Lindsey / Navy
Here are the ingredients for a TV program you can set your watch by: Start with a bunch of Devil Dogs from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Unit having some fun in the sun over in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, throw in some Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74, and get National Geographic there to catch it all on film.
That’s what you can look for out of “National Geographic Explorer: Camp Leatherneck,” which is scheduled to air this Sunday. It’s the product of a visit to the Marines’ little patch of paradise by a Geographic film crew last September, and should have some good Seabee parts, judging by this story:
Mags Miller, a producer for the documentary, said that her directive came shortly after the head of National Geographic visited Camp Leatherneck with the National Security Advisor General James Jones about two months ago. According to Miller, he was absolutely amazed by the camp…
“From what I’ve heard and seen, it’s the Seabees who physically built the berms up and did the billeting in not so secure areas,” Miller said. “Without the Seabees, I don’t think the Marines would be able to have a camp like Leatherneck.”
If you can catch the show when it airs this weekend, come back here and let us know what you thought in the comments.