NMCB 3 Pacific region deployment

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 Yokosuka Detachment’s officer in charge Navy Ensign Karl Coulson is promoted to lieutenant junior grade aboard the USS Stethem (DDG 63). The ship is named after Steelworker 2nd Class Robert Stethem who was killed in Beirut during the 1985 hijacking of Trans World Airlines Flight 847. One of the first battalions commissioned during World War II, NMCB 3’s legacy stands strong in its ability to build and fight anywhere in the world as either a full battalion or as a group of autonomous detachments, simultaneously completing critical engineering and construction missions. For this deployment, NMCB 3 has split into nine details to perform critical construction projects in remote island areas such as Timor-Leste, Tonga, Cambodia and the Philippines. The teams will also conduct operations in Atsugi, Yokosuka and Okinawa, Japan, Chinhae, Republic of Korea and China Lake, Calif. The naval construction force is a vital component of the U.S. maritime strategy. They provide deployable battalions capable of providing disaster preparation and recovery support, humanitarian assistance and combat operations support. NMCB 3 provides combatant commanders and Navy component commanders with combat-ready warfighters capable of general engineering, construction and limited combat engineering across the full range of military operations. (Photo taken by Equipment Operator Construction Apprentice Alyssa Blankenship/Released)