[1] In December 1941, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, Chief of BuDocks, recommended establishing Navy Construction Battalions and on the 28th requested authority to carry this out.

Look So, upon leaving Navy boot, those men were sent to National Youth Administration camps in Illinois, New Jersey, New York or Virginia to receive military training from the Marine Corps.

The Big E was the only aircraft carrier remaining in the Pacific West of Pearl Harbor, but had bomb damage to the flight deck at the bow and just aft of the forward elevator.

[12][13] On day eleven the repair crews remained aboard when Adm. Halsey ordered the Enterprise back to action for what would be the called the Battle of the Solomons.

[11] The damage control officer wrote that on 11 November: "She made the open sea with her decks shaking and echoing to air hammers, with welders' arcs sparking.. without watertight integrity.. leaking oil.. and with her forward elevator still jammed.

"[14] On 13 November the ship's Captain notified Halsey at SOPAC that "The emergency repairs accomplished by this skillful, well-trained, and enthusiastically energetic force have placed this vessel in condition for further action against the enemy".

[15] Those repairs enabled Enterprise aircraft to take part in the sinking of the Japanese battleship Hiei that day in the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.

He sent a commendatory letter to the OIC of B Company, Lt. Quayle: "Your commander wishes to express to you and the men of the Construction Battalion serving under you, his appreciation for the services rendered by you in effecting emergency repairs during action against the enemy.

[19] In addition to building the destroyer base they set up a pontoon assembly facility utilizing the labor of a Company of buffalo soldiers from the 24th Infantry Regiment.

[4] In 1944, the battalion was reformed in New Caledonia and departed Nouméa on 22 May to return to Camp Parks, California where on 12 July it was ordered disbanded and then subsequently decommissioned on 16 August 1944.

The next, and biggest, issue was cutting a mountain in half and moving the material to fill in Subic Bay to create a 10,000 feet (3,000 m) long runway.

The $100 million facility ($1.12 billion in 2023 dollars) was commissioned on 25 July 1956 and comprised an air station and an adjacent pier that was capable of docking the Navy's largest carriers.

NMCB 3 then became the first Seabee battalion to relocate while deployed to Vietnam when they moved north of the city to Camp Haskins South on Red Beach.

While stationed at their new camp, NMCB 3 worked on building the NSA Bridge Cargo Ramp east of Da Nang city, to allow the offloading of LSTs.

They also replaced the runway and turn-arounds with new matting at the An Hoa Marine combat base, made road improvements on highway 1 in the Hải Vân Pass, north of Da Nang and built the "Golden Gate Bridge" to replace the "Liberty Bridge", which had been destroyed several times, on "Liberty Road" between Da Nang and An Hoa.

NMCB 3 also conducted major excavating projects at Marine Corp Air Station Futenma, which included baseball fields and a stadium.

Upon returning to homeport from their third rotation of the "Split Concept" (January 1980), Blue Team was tasked to nearby NAWC Point Mugu where they assisted in flood disaster recovery efforts.

In March 1983 the reunited Battalion deployed for the first time to Camp Mitchell, Naval Station Rota, Spain where it was again named "Best of Type" in the Pacific Fleet.

In October 1989, while completing a homeport field exercise, the battalion deployed its Air Detachment from Fort Hunter Liggett, California, to the San Francisco Bay area to provide earthquake recovery assistance.

In March 1991, NMCB 3 deployed to Guam and provided Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with Typhoon Owen disaster recovery assistance in Yap.

NMCB 3 also cleared runways and repaired utilities at Naval Air Station Cubi Point in support of Operation Fiery Vigil following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo.

NMCB 3 returned to Guam in July 1993, sending a Civil Action Team to Palau and a short-term detail to Saipan to help make preparations for the 50th anniversary of World War II.

Five's Seabees repaired facilities, utilities and schools following the worst earthquake to shake Guam in more than a century, measuring 8.2 on the Richter Scale.

On 15 May 1999, NMCB 3 headed to Rota, Spain where shortly after arriving on station, the battalion was called into action in support of Joint Task Force, Shining Hope.

In December 1999, the battalion returned home after a successful deployment that once again earned them the "Best of Type" award for the Pacific Fleet and the right to wear the coveted Battle "E".

The battalion immediately tasked two Detachments for Training: one to the Seychelles to dismantle three ray domes, the other to Indonesia to build a road and repair a schoolhouse.

Detachments went to Thurmont, MD; Tidewater, VA; Naples; Sigonella; Souda Bay; the Republic of Georgia; Stuttgart, Germany; and Gabon, Africa.

During the deployment, NMCB 3 aided the DOD's civil military operations focus with five civic action training detachments: three in the Philippines and one each in Korea and Thailand.

The battalion supported I MEF as they pressed the remnants of Al Qaida and stood up the fledgling Iraq Security Forces to take control of that country's defenses.

Another 300 Seabees spread out across Africa drilling waterwells, renovating schools, training host national militaries and worked civic action Liberia, Cameroon, Djibouti, Kenya, Comoros and Uganda.