Senior Chief Petty Officer Robert Moons. left, and Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Mckee take a pie in the face at Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40's Over-the-Hump party on Camp Shields, Okinawa. The unit is celebrating the halfway point of its deployment to Okinawa. (John Paul Curtis / U.S. Navy)
OKINAWA, Japan — Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40 celebrated the halfway point of their six-month deployment to Okinawa this month, with several projects making progress.
Those projects include:
A dental addition to the Camp Shields clinic that includes three sterilization rooms and a medical storage facility. The project is expected to be completed April 15 at a cost of $201,000.Demolition and reconstruction of a dispatch building on Camp Shields. The building is expected to be completed Sept. 12, with current costs at $123,000.Ongoing construction of a 6,500-square-foot, pre-engineered building for the Special Boat Squadron at White Beach. The building will include a conference room, armory and three large boat maintenance bays. The project began in December 2003 and is projected to be completed May 11, with current costs of $648,476.Two retaining walls around the Camp Shields perimeter, projected for an April 15 completion.The 280 Seabees arrived on Okinawa in January from their base at Port Hueneme, Calif. They are considering new projects that include a driving range, but plans have not yet been finalized, according to a Seabees spokeswoman.
Apart from their construction duties, the Seabees have toured the island and donated time to community service. Thirteen Seabees visited the Ai Rin En Orphanage on March 14, and played basketball and other sports with the children.
“Some of the kids were acting shy, and there was one little girl who just stood in front of me and she wouldn’t say anything. So I just picked her up and held her,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class William Thomas.
Thomas said he planned to return to the orphanage to visit with the children.
“Having the opportunity to play with the children and show them they are loved was definitely one of the most worthwhile things I have done this deployment,” Thomas said.
