NMCB 24 Seabees Keep Tactical Movement Team Cool

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (NNS) -- Seabees attached to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 24 are helping their counterparts in NMCB 1 stay cool by installing air conditioning (A/C) units in Humvees at the Seabees' Camp Knott, here.

The Seabees will spend the next month and a half installing A/C units in 26 Humvees for NMCB 1 and NMCB 24’s tactical movement team (TMT).

As summer heats up in the desert here, temperatures inside up-armored Humvees will reach more than 150 degrees, necessitating the use of air conditioning during long convoys.

“This is really going to benefit [the Seabees in the convoy],” said Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Scott Oschsner of NMCB 24, one of the two Seabees installing the A/C units. “When you’re in a convoy, you travel tactical with no windows open. There’s no airflow. It’ll help keep these guys cool.”

The order came to install A/C units in the Humvees after the 30th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) relieved I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) in March.

“When we took over from the MEF, Commodore [Capt. Michael L.] Blount assessed the need to add A/Cs to the TMT,” said Chief Construction Mechanic (SCW) Thomas Palmer, 30th NCR equipment manager. “We looked at how many we could get done this summer and took it a step forward and did all of them.”

The A/Cs for the Humvees come in two parts: the condenser, which is mounted on the back of the vehicle, and the evaporator core, which is mounted inside. Although the up-armor on the vehicles keeps the passengers inside safe, it poses a problem when adding after-factory parts like the A/Cs.

So far, Oschsner and Construction Mechanic 1st Class Lash L. Loop have installed A/Cs in two Humvees in just about a week. For the initial Humvee, they had to go through hands-on training with the Marines from II MEF, who had trained with the manufacturer prior to deployment.

“The Marines trained with Red Dot (the manufacturer of the A/C units) for several weeks before coming out here,” said Palmer. “Our guys got very little training, but their 'can do' spirit came through.”

“The Marines have helped us out a lot,” said Loop. “They went out of their way to help. We’ve spent about 50 percent of our time here (at Camp Knott) and the other 50 [with the Marines].”

The help from II MEG didn’t just stop with training. With a price tag of $3,300 apiece, funds from both commands went into purchasing the units.

“We paid for 16 and the rest came from II MEF,” said Palmer. “We got an additional 10 Humvees with A/C from the Marines, as well.”

Over the next month and a half Loop and Ochsner will install A/Cs in 26 Humvees, bringing the number of vehicles with air conditioning in NMCB 1’s TMT to 36.

NMCBs 1 and 24 are currently deployed in the Al Anbar Province, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Both commands fall under the operational and administrative control of 30th NCR.

For related news, visit the Commander, 1st Naval Construction Division Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/1ncd/.