Tuesday, October 02, 2012

#Warfighting: NMCB 11 Returns Home after Seven Months in Afghanistan



By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jonathan Carmichael, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11 Public Affairs

GULFPORT, Miss. (NNS) -- Sailors assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11 were welcomed home by family and friends Sept. 21 after a successful seven-month deployment to Afghanistan, which began in February this year.

NMCB 11's personnel arrived in a caravan of buses at Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport sometime before 10 p.m., nearly two weeks after the battalion's advanced party personnel arrived.

Spouses, children, friends, family, and even some pets were on site to embrace their Seabees. Many displayed signs welcoming home their Seabee. Many Seabees who arrived home two weeks earlier came out to show support and welcome home their shipmates.

NMCB-11 was deployed to U.S. Central Command to conduct general, mobility, survivability engineering operations, defensive operations, Afghan National Army (ANA) partnering and detachment of units in combined/joint operations area - Afghanistan in order to enable the neutralization of the insurgency and support improved governance and stability operations.

Among the numerous missions, the battalion conducted were a large-scale road construction project in southern Helmand province in which they partnered with the ANA, a village stability platform mission in support of Marine Special Forces, construction of helicopter landing zones, in partnership with the Italian army, to facilitate timely medical evacuations, and construction of buildings and facilities for an ANA recruit training command.

Despite being faced with the dangers of operating in a combat zone for the length of the deployment, the Seabees of NMCB-11 are fortunate to have all returned. Thorough training and preparation in the months leading up to the deployment undoubtedly contributed to the battalion's success.

Following a brief stand-down period to allow sailors time to rest, spend time with family, and take care of personal matters, NMCB-11 will reorganize and begin a homeport period filled with training and tactical exercises designed to prepare them for the next deployment and increase their in-rate knowledge and skills.

For more news from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11, visit www.navy.mil/local/nmcb11/.

No comments: