KANDAHAR AIRFIELD – U.S. Navy Seabees with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7 completed construction of a NASA office building at Kandahar Air Field at the end of April.
The 750 square foot, climate controlled office is designed to support communication operations of the NASA unit, which uses the base as a base of operations for launching missions using the WB-57 High Altitude Research Aircraft.
A crew of six Seabees worked for a total of 135 man-days in the construction of the building. Eight fluorescent light fixtures, 24 receptacles, one 100 amp panel and 825 feet of wiring later, the building stands ready for use. It is a testament to the “can do” spirit the Seabees are already so well known for.
Marine Colonel George Zamka, a NASA astronaut with the unit in KAF, said he was very glad to have the Seabees there to lend them a hand.
NMCB 7 also took it upon themselves to furnish NASA with a new gym, which was built into part of the office building.
“They were asking us if they could work out before we were even close to being finished,” said Constructionman Electrician 2nd Class Charis Depena, one of the Delta Company Seabees who worked on the project. “It was really cool getting to meet an astronaut.”
NMCB 7 deployed to the Combined Joint Operations Area – Afghanistan (CJOA-A), from its homeport of Gulfport, Miss. Jan. 9, to provide a highly responsive and maneuverable engineer force and resources to conduct contingency, mobility and general engineering support operations across supported commander’s lines of operation throughout CENTCOM, to improve the operational capabilities of coalition forces.
NMCB 7, often referred to as the “MAGNIFICENT SEVEN”, is one of the original 10 Seabee battalions authorized by the Chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Yards and Docks, in 1942, and is currently one of nine active NMCBs in the Naval Construction Force, a military engineering force of nearly 17,000 Active and Reserve Component Seabees operating worldwide. Upon completion of their current deployment, NMCB 7 will decommission on Sept. 30 as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 force reduction plan.
For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy or www.twitter/usnavy.
For more news from NMCB 7, visit www.navy.mil/local/nmcb7/, www.dvidshub.net/unit/NMCB7 or www.dvidshub.net/unit/ECC-East.
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 06.01.2012 03:11 |
| Story ID: | 89278 |
| Location: | AF |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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