More than 400 Reserve Sailors attached to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 24 received orders for recall to active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom this past week, including Chattanooga Seabees.
Seabees attached to Reserve Centers from Huntsville, Bessemer, Mobile, and Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga; Louisville and Lexington, Ky.; Huntington, W.V.; Greenville and Colombia, S.C.; Atlanta, and Columbus, Ga.; Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro Raleigh, and Wilmington, N.C.; Evansville, In.; Gulfport, Ms.; Albany, N.Y.; Pensacola, Fla.; Anacostia Naval Station Washington DC; Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Puerto Rico will report to Gulfport, Ms, on Jan. 31 and Feb.14 to begin training for deployment.
The deployment will take place in three stages, beginning with the command element, the advance party, and followed by the main body of Seabees in early to mid March. The command element reported to Gulfport on Jan. 18.
The Chattanooga Reserve Center will commit 36 Seabees, consisting of construction mechanics, equipment operators, builders, electricians, engineering aids, utilitiesmen, and administrative personnel to this mission.
The Seabees will be providing camp maintenance support for the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force located in the Al Anbar Province. This will include everything from runway crater repairs to providing the basic necessities such as water, power, and utility construction.
NMCB 24, also known as the “Dixie Doers,” is based out of Huntsville, Ala. The battalion’s last deployment was in 1990 to 1991 in support of Desert Shield/Desert Storm.