Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Andrew Waters | 250128-N-PI330-1007 GULFPORT, Mississippi (January 28, 2025) Seabees, assigned to...... read more read more
NAVAL CONSTRUCTION BATTALION CENTER GULFPORT, Mississippi - Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133 conducted a permanent airfield damage repair exercise on Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, Mississippi January 15-29, 2025.
The Seabees worked with Airmen from the 823rd Air Force Red Horse Squadron to place 100 cubic yards of concrete utilizing a triple tube roller paver.
Within the last year, NMCB 133 reorganized the battalion structure to contain units that specialize in different types of construction to include airfield damage repair, port damage repair and advance base construction. This involves incorporating more trainings in these specific construction fields for the Seabees to better support mission requirements.
According to Master Sgt. Zac Norris, the exercise lead for NMCB 133, this exercise served multiple purposes: giving the Seabees practice with more permanent airfield construction, affording the Seabees an opportunity to practice general concrete finishing techniques and giving them exposure to equipment they may utilize when working with Red Horse squadrons in the future.
“We wanted to make sure that the first time these Sailors see a large concrete placement was not on a project site, but in a training environment where they are able to struggle and learn and get better as the day progresses,” said Norris.
In recent years the Seabees have focused more on repairing existing airstrips through crater repair processes, but this placement allowed them to practice building an airstrip from scratch. This would allow the Seabees to further enable fleet maneuverability by being able to build air strips in critical locations to support sustained aviation operations.
“I feel like this training was beneficial for us because it really showed that not only can we repair airways, but now we can build them,” said Builder 2nd Class Cobie Bonato, the crew lead for the exercise. “It taught us a lot of things about building a runway as far as compaction and different techniques for finishing and edging.”
One of the other benefits of this exercise is the interoperability with the Red Horse unit. NMCB 133 and the 823rd Red Horse Squadron conduct operations in the same area of responsibility, and have worked on projects together in the past.
| Date Taken: | 02.03.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.05.2025 14:03 |
| Story ID: | 490170 |
| Location: | GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 101 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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