Editing Seabee (section)

== Naval construction history ==

'''CB Conceptual Formation'''

In the 1930s [[Bureau of Yards and Docks]] (BuDocks) began providing for "Navy Construction Battalions" (CB) in contingency war plans.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/SeaBees-Revised.pdf|title=U.S. Navy Seabees During World War II|last=Rogers|first=J.|access-date=15 April 2020}}</ref> In 1934, Capt. Carl Carlson's version of the CB was approved by [[Chief of Naval Operations]]<ref name="intro">{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/s/seabee-history0/seabee-history.html|title=Seabee History - Introduction|website=NHHC|accessdate=May 11, 2022}}</ref> In 1935, [[Rear admiral (United States)|RADM.]] Norman Smith, head of BuDocks, selected Captain Walter Allen, [[United States Department of War|War Plans Officer]], to represent BuDocks on the War Plans Board. Capt. Allen presented the bureau's CB concept with the Board including it in the [[United States color-coded war plans#Rainbow plans|Rainbow]] war plans.<ref name="intro"/> The Seabees named their first training center for Capt. Allen.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Docks|first=United States Bureau of Yards and|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WuIpaOBGXKsC&q=The+Seabees+name+their+first+training+center+for+Capt.+Allen&pg=PA138|title=Building the Navy's Bases in WWII: History of the BuDocks and the CEC, 1940-1946|date=1947|publisher=U.S. GPO}}</ref> A criticism of the proposal was CBs would have a dual command; military control administrated by fleet [[line Officer]]s while construction operations would be administrated by [[Civil Engineer Corps]] officers.<ref name="intro"/> Additional criticisms were no provisions for the [[military organization]] or [[military training]] necessary to provide unit structure, [[Military discipline|discipline]], and [[esprit de corps]]. In December 1937, RADM. [[Ben Moreell]] became BuDocks Chief and the lead proponent of the CB proposal.<ref name="intro"/>

In 1941, the Navy and BuDocks decided to improve project oversight of civilian contractors by creating "Headquarters Construction Companies".<ref name="intro"/> These companies would have 2 officers and 99 enlisted, but would do no actual construction.<ref name="intro"/> On 31 October 1941, RADM. [[Chester Nimitz]], Chief of the [[Bureau of Navigation (United States Navy)|Bureau of Navigation]], authorized the formation of the 1st Headquarters Construction Company.<ref name="intro"/> Recruiting began in November while [[boot training]] began [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|7 December 1941]] at [[Naval Station Newport]].<ref name="intro"/> By 16 December, four additional companies had been authorized, but Pearl Harbor changed everything.<ref name="intro"/>

The Seabee [[skillset]] became multi-[[Faceted classification|faceted]] with all advanced [[military training]] being USMC instruction.  That training led to CBs being tasked as [[Pioneer (military)|USMC Pioneers]] (Shore party)<ref>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shore%20party#:~:text=%3A%20a%20task%20organization%20formed%20to,gasoline%20drums%20on%20the%20beachhead shore party definition, Merriam Webster, 2023]</ref> in multiple [[Amphibious assault|landings]].  They added pontoon [[New product development|development]], [[Manufacturing|fabrication]], and combat utilization.<ref>Bridging the Gap from Ship to Shore, Frank A. Blazich Jr., Naval History Magazine Volume 35, Number 4, August 2021 [https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2021/august/bridging-gap-ship-shore]</ref> The military training added frontline combat with both the Marine Corps and the Army during WWII and the Marines and [[United States Army Special Forces|Army Special forces]] during [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]].  It also led to combat as [[machine gun]]ners on USN [[LCVP (United States)|LCVP]] and [[PT boats]] during WWII.  On the construction side of their toolbox the NCF CBs were formed with skilled [[tradesmen]] making the NCF competent in all types of vertical and horizontal civil construction as well as the associated [[Civil Engineering|engineering]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Challeen |first1=Steven G. |title=Construction management training the Navy Seabees |url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=20bbb9a9bed3db6b710cc06b80f4adf701e00289 |website=Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive |publisher=Dudley Knox Library at the Naval Postgraduate School |access-date=16 February 2025 |date=1992}}</ref> The newly formed Naval Construction Force (NCF) [[toolbox]] quickly focused on [[airfield]] and [[harbor]] [[construction]].  The toolbox was expanded to include [[underwater construction]], [[demolition]], as well as the related combat applications used by the Seabees that comprised the NCDU's and [[Underwater Demolition Teams|UDT]]s.  The toolbox was further expanded by the creation of [[Public works]] units to maintain the facilities they constructed.  In addition [[mosquito]]/[[malaria]] control was added to their Public works skillset.  The NCF added traditional [[ship salvage|fleet salvage]], [[ship repair|repair]], and maintenance as  needed.  [[Combat engineering]] was added to the toolbox when CBs were transferred to the Marine Corps as elements of USMC engineering regiments. War demands added [[stevedoring]] to the toolbox both in USMC [[amphibious landing|assault operations]] and at forward operating facilities.  [[Weapons development]] and [[Arms industry|manufacture]] were added by the [[United States Army|USA]] [[Chemical Warfare Service]].  [[Arctic|Polar]] [[petroleum exploration]] and construction were specialties that were also added. Postwar the [[National Science Foundation]] would take advantage of those skillsets.  Ingenuity and resourcefulness were tools they became famous for.<ref>Thinking Outside the Box: Ingenuity is Key to Seabees' Success, Steve Forbes, CEC/Seabee Historical Foundation, PO Box 657, Gulfport, MS [https://seabeehf.org/thinking-outside-the-box/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210182836/https://seabeehf.org/thinking-outside-the-box/ |date=10 February 2023 }}</ref><ref>Pontoons – Magic Boxes Nothing Short of a Miracle, CEC/Seabee Historical Foundation,  March 2016 [https://seabeehf.org/pontoons-magic-boxes-nothing-short-of-a-miracle/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210182836/https://seabeehf.org/pontoons-magic-boxes-nothing-short-of-a-miracle/ |date=10 February 2023 }}</ref>  Postwar assignments with the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] and [[United States Department of State|State Department]] added further to the toolbox in [[Electronic warfare|electronic]] fields related to [[national security]].

Their official [[motto]] is "We build, we fight." The NCF also adopted the motto "Can Do" as the force believed it could do anything it was tasked with.  The Seabees boasted of this by posting signs reading: "The difficult we Can Do now, The impossible takes a little longer".<ref>[https://archive.today/20140606081111/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/personnel/seabees/seabee1.html Seabees -- their simple motto tells the story: "We build, we fight".], U.S. Navy official website, accessed May 11, 2020.</ref><ref>[https://seabeemuseum.wordpress.com/2018/03/05/a-memorial-to-those-that-can-do/ A Memorial to those that "CAN DO!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103231425/https://seabeemuseum.wordpress.com/2018/03/05/a-memorial-to-those-that-can-do/ |date=3 January 2023 }}, By:  Julius Lacano, Historian, US Navy Seabee Museum.</ref>