One of the first Seabee units commissioned during World War II, U.S. Naval
Mobile Construction Battalion THREE played an important part in the building
of bases in the Southern Pacific. NMCB THREE was called upon to perform its
job beginning in the summer of 1942, not as a unit, but as a group of autonomous
detachments that participated in a number of combat operations during the Marshall
Islands campaign. After reuniting in 1944, the battalion returned to Camp
Parks, California where on 12 July it was ordered disbanded and then subsequently
decommissioned on 16 August 1944.
The Battalion was re-activated on July 15, 1950 at Construction Battalion
Center, Port Hueneme, California.
Starting May 1965 NMCB THREE made three deployments Da Nang,
Vietnam where they constructed more than 500 facilities for the Marine Corps.
In the 1990s NMCB THREE established a legacy of disaster revovery to
include operatios in Guam, Yap and the Philippines.
Since 2000 NMCB THREE has made mutiple deployments to Iraq and
Afghanistan supporting both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi
Freedom. THREE also assumed the lead role in Task Force Sierra, a construction
task force in support of several Joint Task Forces, with projects spread throughout
Iraq, Afghanistan and the Philippines, providing "tip of the spear" contingency
construction support to America’s warfighters.
THREE redeployed from Iraq to Kuwait in November 2005 to set up a new
main body site at Camp Arifjan. In December 2006, THREE deployed to the Far
East. With the mainbody group located at Camp Shields Okinawa, and detachments
reaching from Korea to California, the Battalion also stood up a short-fused
detail in Afghanistan to support Special Operations Forces in Operation Enduring
Freedom.
In April 2008, NMCB THREE deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, providing
support to FIRST Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) in Iraq and assuming
control of Task Force Sierra for a second time. After an abbreviated homeport,
the Battalion became the first Main Body to deploy to Naval Station Rota, Spain
since 2005. During this time, Detachments were also sent to Romania, Bulgaria,
Croatia and Serbia to provide humanitarian construction in these emerging
Eastern European countries. Over 300 Seabees served throughout Africa, drilling
waterwells, renovating schools, training host national militaries and improving
the quality of life in Liberia, Cameroon, Djibouti, Kenya, Comoros and Uganda,
overcoming equatorial heat and torrential rains while "winning hearts and minds".
Most recently, NMCB THREE completed a deployment to Afghanistan from
Nov 2010 to June 2011 where they supported US and Coalition forces spread across
more than 30 different locations throughout Afghanistan. Key efforts included the
completion of 110 tactical infrastructure projects, ranging from combat outspost
builds to route construction, in support of I and II MEF, Special Operations Forces,
and Task Force Helmand, a British Led Task Force. THREE’s phenomenal efforts
resulted in greatly improved counterinsurgency operations and a more stabilized
Afghanistan government.