Located in Port Hueneme, California, FIRST NCR exercises command and control over subordinate Naval Construction Force units. During peacetime these are NMCB-17, NMCB-18, NMCB-22 and NCFSU-2
The FIRST NCR was first authorized in July 1967 to exercise operational control and assist its subordinate units in achieving their mission. At the time of commissioning, FIRST NCR was located Armed Forces Reserve Center, Los Alamitos, California, moving to it's present location of Port Hueneme, California in September 1994.
In 2003, the First was activated to backfill for the Thirtieth NCR when it went forward in support of OIF/OEF.
Again, in 2005, the First was activated in support of OIF/OEF. This time the Regiment combined with the Thirtieth to form a "combined" Regiment; a first ever approach. This allowed the Thirtieth to break it's one year deployment to Iraq into two, six-month rotations.