FRIDAY FOTO (June 7, 2019)

A Different Kind of Pole Dance.

(U.S. Navy photo by Chief Construction Electrician Lace Johnson)

Last week the Friday Foto showed you Navy SEAL candidates straining under a heavy log or pole as part of their rugged training. This week, we’ve got Navy Seabees high up a pole.

The Navy’s Construction Battalions (CBs or “Seabees”) form the Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabees in this photo are attending a Construction Electrician (CE) class at the Naval Construction Training Center in Gulfport, Mississippi.  The three-week course in power distribution systems and line vehicles will advance their skills in  wooden power pole utility work.

With hands-on-instruction, the students gain confidence with using safety gear and climbing equipment — as well as experience in climbing to heights of nine, 18, 27 and 36 feet, while circling the utility pole 360 degrees in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions.

Formed during World War II, the Navy Construction Battalions (CBs or “Seabees”) replaced civilian construction workers who were building naval bases and other Navy facilities in the Central Pacific prior to Pearl Harbor.  Under international law, civilians who took up arms against an enemy attack could be summarily executed as guerrillas when captured.

The first Seabees were skilled construction workers, trained by the Navy and Marine Corps, to fight as well as build in theaters of war.  In all, 325,000 men served as Seabees during the war.

Today Seabees perform a number of tasks from building and repairing bases, airfields, bridges and roads in war zones, to disaster relief work — including debris removal, setting up expeditionary medical facilities, and restoring power and water supplies. Click here to see a short video on the work of modern day Seabees.