History

One of the first Seabee units commissioned during World War II, U.S. Naval Construction Battalion THREE (NCB THREE) played an important role building bases and infrastructure supporting campaigns in the Pacific theatre of operations. Activated at Camp Allen, Virginia May 1, 1942, NCB THREE autonomous detachments served in the South Pacific and participated throughout the Marshall Island campaign. Returning home, NCB THREE was decommissioned at Camp Parks, California on August 31, 1944.
 
The Battalion was re-activated as Mobile Construction Battalion THREE (MCB THREE) on July 15, 1950, at Construction Battalion Center, Port Hueneme, California. Following its recommissioning on November 5, 1950, MCB THREE worked briefly at Amchitka, Alaska before moving to the Philippine Islands in 1951. MCB THREE spent the next 5 1/2 years building Naval Air Station, Cuba Point before moving to Okinawa, Japan where they spent 4 years constructing Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. In May 1965 MCB THREE made the first of three deployments to Da Nang, Vietnam where they constructed more than 500 facilities supporting the Marine Corps. During this time MCB THREE achieved one of its most notable accomplishments as the “Ghost Battalion.” The “Ghost Battalion” undertook a top-secret mission to fabricate a C-130 capable airfield, Marine helicopter capable pads, and a 500-man camp in 38 days. The self-proclaimed “Skull and Crossbones” battalion was one of the most renowned groups of the Vietnam War. The war culminated in MCB 3’s re-designation to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) THREE. For their work, NMCB THREE earned the Presidential Unit Citation from which the “Better Than Best” slogan was taken.
 
NMCB THREE continues the proud legacy of NCB and MCB THREE to this day. During the 1970s, NMCB THREE was executing construction on Diego Garcia and Guam where they built Camp Covington which still serves as the Seabee’s home in Guam 40 years later. By the 1990s NMCB THREE had established a legacy of disaster response and humanitarian aid with operations in Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. Following the outbreak of war in 2001, NMCB THREE deployed multiple times in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM while continuing its rich history of deployments across the Pacific theatre. During NMCB THREE’s 2018-2019 deployment to the Indo-Pacific, the battalion built 62 emergency temporary roofs in Tinian, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands as part of a Task Force Engineer Defense Support of Civil Authorities and Federal Emergency Management Agency mission to relieve suffering as a result of Super Typhoon Yutu.
 
After the onset of the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic in March 2020, NMCB THREE was the first Naval Construction Force unit to deploy in the new threat environment. The Battalion embraced new embarkation and communication models to deploy to the Indo-Pacific, complete a mostly non-face-to-face Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority, and serve as the Pacific Fleet’s ‘stand-in’ force as Commander, Task-Unit 75.5.1 to execute missions in the Area of Responsibility while maintaining a healthy and ready force.

NMCB THREE continues the proud legacy of NCB and MCB THREE to this day. In January 2022, NMCB THREE deployed to 18 geographic locations in 14 countries throughout the U.S. Indo-Pacific Area of Operations supporting Phase Zero and One operations through the execution 30 projects valued at $30M in support of Commander 7th Fleet objectives. The Battalion’s deployment included the re-establishment of enduring Detail sites in locations previously closed down due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, such as Detail Philippines and Detail Pohnpei.

NMCB THREE also successfully executed complex/high visibility construction projects such as, P-762 Combat Aircraft Loading Area (CALA) project, a $9.4M “Whole of Engineering” proof of concept on San Clemente Island ISO Commander 3rd Fleet; construction of the $1.1M Support Facilities for Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) Systems in Okinawa. Throughout deployment NMCB THREE enabled Fleet Level training and enhanced international partnerships through the execution of five multinational and bilateral exercises to include Combined Command Post Training 22, Valiant Shield 22, Pacific Partnership 21 & 22, Balikatan 22, and the Amphibious Readiness Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit (ARG/MEU) Spring Cruise.