Photo By Lt. Gregory Hazlett | Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74, Commanding Officer Cmdr. Bruce Nevel speaks...... read more read more
On Aug. 18, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 and Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5 held a Transfer of Authority ceremony in which NMCB-74 took responsibility of Camp Natasha at Camp Leatherneck in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. In addition to the two commanding officers and the official party, Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commanding general, Marine Expeditionary Brigade, was an honored guest at the ceremony who both praised NMCB-5 for their excellent work and welcomed NMCB-74 on board
According to Cdr. Bruce Nevel, NMCB-74 commanding officer, the turnover was a unique event referring to it as a "working turnover," in which there was very minimal disruption of the projects. "We sent over enough folks to turn over and enough people to shadow NMCB-5's workforce, so the projects never came to a stop," said Nevel.
In addition to the routine turnover of equipment, tools and materials, both Cmdr. Nevel and his operations officer, Lt. Cmdr. Omarr Tobias, placed heavy emphasis on understanding lessons learned during NMCB-5's deployment. "Five had an outstanding deployment. They accomplished historic things and set the bar really, really high in terms of mission accomplishment. Our job is to come in, respect that they are the subject matter experts on the ground. We want to be a sponge and learn the process and techniques, learn how to make things work here and build in the manner that is most efficient, how to best use the materials, and network with the right individuals to get what we need on time," said Tobias. Nevel went on to say, "A whole lot goes into turnover, it's not just counting property, it's making sure we are smart, we have learned all the lessons they have learned and we can continue on and be successful from day one."
In response to how he feels about the upcoming deployment for NMCB-74 and having assumed responsibilities in the expanding Camp Leatherneck and command of camp Natasha Nevel stated, "I am extremely excited and looking forward to this deployment. This is going to be a memorable deployment, because there is a lot of meaningful work to be done. You could employ three Seabee battalions here. Furthermore, extremely meaningful, what we are doing out here effects the world and future generations. In fighting the global war on terror, I will tell you we are at the tip of the tip of the spear. We are supporting the warfighter here and are viewed as very valuable and appreciated."
With an enormous amount of meaningful work ahead of the battalion in the months ahead, Tobias expressed feelings of both challenge and readiness to continue where NMCB-5 left off and see NMCB-74 excel when he said, "I feel humbled by the opportunity, I feel challenged, I feel ready, and I feel that I am accompanied by a unit full of capable, motivated, skilled people that will accomplish the mission and bring all of our troops home with ten fingers, ten toes, and sound mind and body."
| Date Taken: | 08.18.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 08.28.2009 07:47 |
| Story ID: | 38049 |
| Location: | ON AUG. 18, AF |
| Web Views: | 468 |
| Downloads: | 271 |
This work, NMCB-74 Assumes Command at Camp Natasha, by SCPO Ryan Wilber, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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