Amphibious Construction Battalion TWO (abbreviated as ACB 2, or PHIBCB 2) is an amphibious construction battalion in the United States Navy based in Little Creek, Virginia. Amphibious Construction Battalion ONE is its sister unit based in Coronado, California.
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Mission
PHIBCB TWO combines the small craft expertise of the surface navy with the construction capabilities of the Naval Construction Force. We support Commander, Naval Beach Group Two in amphibious force projection with fully trained, combat ready forces.
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History
ACB Two has its beginnings in WWII. It started out as the 105th Naval Construction Battalion. She was commissioned 24 July 1943 at Camp Peary. From there she was sent to Camp Parks in California and then to Advance Base Depot Port Hueneme. While there the battalion went into movie history by providing the men and equipment for staging portions of the filming of The Fighting Seabees. At Port Hueneme the 105th boarded the United States Army Transport Sea Devil bound for New Guinea via Townsville, Australia. There, she would join the 7th Fleet at Milne Bay and her sister battalion the 104th. At Milne, the primary job sites were the construction of an Amphibious Training Center, the battalion's camp, a Liberty ship pier, and a tank farm on Swinger Bay (adjacent the Coral Sea). The Seabee's Historian Huie states the if all the warehouses built by the 105th at Milne were combined it would create a structure 40' x 75,000'(that's 15 miles) The battalion also had several detachments. One went went to Hilimoi Bay to help the 91st CB build a hospital for shipment to a forward site. Another 150 men built a second sawmill to augment the one being run by the 84th CB at Milne Bay. Of note are two 105 specialized details of divers that traveled over a hundred miles on undisclosed missions. Milne Bay is one of the most malaria infested regions of the world and the 105th was there from Jan-Oct 1944. And, it was in October some LSTs showed up to embark the battalion for Island "X". En-route they laid up a few days at Hollandia. On 24 Oct 1944 or D-plus 4 the battalion landed at Tacloban, Leyte. The 105th was the first entire Seabee Battalion to land in the Philippines. Also landing at Tacloban were the 75th CB and the 1024 CBD(they all were part of the 12th Construction Regiment). The 104th would be sent there too. On the following day 400 men were sent to Anabong Point. November 12 saw the rear echelon arrive at San Pedro Bay, Leyte from Milne Bay. On that same day the OIC at Anabong Point sent a detachment to San Antonio, Northern Samar. Before it was over there would be additional detachments to Talosa, Guiuan, Balingaga, and Osmena. The 105th's cruisebook states "the 105th is a battalion distinguished only by it's normalcy." In the PI she built an airfield, roads, barracks, camps and water tanks. During the first 31 days she came under air attack 138 times. On V-J Day there were 32,000 Seabees in Subic Bay including 105ths. It seems that the battlion had built a reputation for it's "moonlight acquisition " abilities that traveled all the way back to Australia
The 105th Naval Construction Battalion was recommissioned 22 Jan 1947 at Little Creek, Virgina and was placed under the operational control of Commander, Amphibious Training Command, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. The battalion "absorbed the duties and materials of the old Pontoon Training Unit of COMPHIBTRALANT". When Naval Beach Group Two was established in 1948, the 105th NCB became a component of that command. In Oct 1949 the 1st NCB was recommissioned at Little Creek also. The Navy changed CB designations that year and they both became Mobile Construction Battalions MCBs. This lasted less than a year for the 105th because the battalion was re-designated Amphibious Construction Battalion Two (PHIBCB TWO) in 1950. When the Korean War broke out the Naval Construction force had been reduced to 2,800 men, MCB 1, ACB 1, and ACB 2. That quickly changed Between December. From 1972 - 1975, ACB Two was a component of Naval Inshore Warfare Command following the decommissioning of Naval Beach Group Two. However, ACB Two once again became a component of Naval Beach Group Two when it was re-commissioned in 1975.
ACB Two has distinguished itself in a myriad of operations since World War II including :
- "Passage to Freedom" Task Force 90 The 1954 Geneva agreement recognizing the Communist government of North Vietnam allowed for people residing in the North to move south before 15 May 1955. Both ACBs were assigned to TF-90.
- Operation Blue Bat - 1958 Lebanon crisis
- United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon August 1982 to February 1984
- Operation Urgent Fury October 1983 Grenada
- Operation Sharp Edge in Liberia in 1991
- Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-1991
- Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti in 1994
- TWA Flight 800 and EgyptAir Flight 990 disaster recovery efforts
- Joint Task Force Katrina 2005
- Operation Iraqui Freedom
- Operation Unified Response 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Tektite I
On 28 January 1969 a detachment from Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 augmented by an additional 17 Seabee divers from both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets as well as the 21st NCR began the installation of the Tektite habitat in Great Lameshur Bay at Lameshur, U.S. Virgin Islands. The Tektite program was funded by NASA and was the first scientists-in-the-sea program sponsored by the U.S. government. The Seabees also constructed a 12 hut base camp at Viers that is used today as the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station.
Unit awards
ACB 2 has received several unit citations and commendations. Members who participated in actions that merited the award are authorized to wear the medal or ribbon associated with the award on their uniform. Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces have different categories, i.e. Service, Campaign, Unit, and Personal. Unit Citations are distinct from the other decorations. The following unit awards are 2's:
- Joint Meritorious Unit Award
- Navy Unit Commendation
- Navy Unit Commendation
- Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
- Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
Campaign and Service Awards
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one bronze star (105 NCB)
- Philippine Liberation Medal with two bronze stars (105 NCB)
- World War II Victory Medal (105 NCB)
- Humanitarian Service Medal Feb-Mar 1976 1976 Guatemala earthquake
- National Defense Service Medal Vietnam
- National Defense Service Medal War on Terror
- Southwest Asia Service Medal
The Battalion also qualified for the Golden Anchor Award for retention excellence in FY 01 and FY 03.
With over 1,100 active duty and reserve men and women, Amphibious Construction Battalion TWO provides the U.S. Atlantic Fleet with the ship-to-shore link so vital to success in amphibious operations.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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