Mission

Mission

The Underwater Construction Teams (UCT's) are the U.S. Navy's elite underwater construction experts, and are component Commands of the Naval Construction Force, serving the Fleets, enabling Fleet Maneuver and Distributed Maritime Operations. The UCT's are primarily composed of highly skilled and motivated Seabee Divers, most of whom are from the Occupational Field thirteen (OF-13) ratings. As qualified Seabee Divers, the UCT's apply their skills to execute underwater construction, provide waterfront engineering expertise, enhance subsea and seabed warfare, conduct precision demolition, and command and control Navy Expeditionary Combat Force Task Units. Additionally, the Teams have specialists in logistics, administration, and diving medicine.

To accomplish this assigned mission, the UCT-2 will:

• Accomplish operational and training projects to maintain ocean construction capabilities and readiness.

• Respond to emergency inspection and repair of essential fleet water-front systems within 48 hours.

• Maintain the capability to deploy or redeploy with an organic allowance within 6 days.

• Assist in the test and evaluation of new ocean construction equipment and ocean facility structures and components.

• Construct, inspect, and maintain ocean and waterfront facilities.

• Provide expedient assessment and repair of damaged ocean and waterfront facilities.

• Maintain maritime infrastructure, ports, docks, piers, wharves, fleet moorings, beachheads, subsea cables, aids to navigation, and underwater utilities/systems for the Navy and Marine Corps.

• Conduct land and underwater precision demolition.

• Provide emergency medical care for diving operation to include operation of recompression chambers.

• During the initial period of contingency mobilization, provide underwater construction support of Naval Beach Groups, Harbor Defense Groups, and other fleet units as directed.

• Construct, inspect, and repair ocean facilities in support of Naval and Marine Corps operations in the combat zone or at forward area support bases.

• Conduct military operations in support of Fleet Marine Force (FMF) amphibious assault and subsequent combat service support ashore.

• Provide limited defense against attacks directed toward personnel, camps, and facilities under construction.

Diving Capabilities
UCT-2 maintains the capability to dive SCUBA and/or Surface Supplied diving in all environmental conditions: zero visibility, contamination, day or night operations, ice diving, rivers, harbors, or open ocean. In support of underwater construction operations, UCT-2 maintains the following dive equipment:

• SCUBA:

  • Normal limit is 130 feet of sea water (fsw). In certain instances can dive to 190 fsw.

  • Twin 80 cubic foot SCUBA cylinders.

  • AGA full face mask OTS through water communication

• KM-37, KM-97 and MK-20 Surface Supplied Diving Systems

  • Limited to 190 fsw (MK-20 limited to 60 fsw).

  • Includes all surface support equipment

  • Supports two divers plus one standby diver

  • Excellent voice communications.

• MK-3 Light Weight Dive Systems

  • Navy certified to 190 fsw

  • High Pressure composite flasks

  • Entirely man portable

• MK-6 Transportable Recompression Chambers (TRCS)

  • Navy certified

  • Australian developed

  • Man portable systems Allows surface decompression on Air or Oxygen

  • Allows on-site treatment of diving injuries (Bends/Gas Embolism)