Thirteen Seabees assigned to Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) took part in a history and heritage visit to Camp Peary, March 17, which was the site of one of the Navy's boot camp facilities that trained newly recruited Seabees from 1942-1944.

The history and heritage visit was scheduled to bring awareness to the 75th anniversary of the Seabees in March 2017 and to allow active-duty officers and enlisted Sailors assigned to NECC to hear more about the experiences of the Seabee forbearers who came before them.

For the first seven or eight months after the Navy began recruiting civilian construction workers for the Seabees early in 1942, most of their training took place at the Naval Construction Training Center (NCTC) Camps Allen and Bradford in Norfolk, and at NCTC Camp Endicott in Davisville, Rhode Island.

As the Seabees proved their value to the war effort however, and as their authorized strength continued to increase, it became evident that a larger training facility was needed.

Named after Rear Adm. Robert E. Peary, the famous arctic explorer, Camp Peary was commissioned in November 1942. Camp Peary was capable of housing and training 40 naval construction battalions at a time. Throughout 1943 and the first half of 1944, newly recruited Seabees received their primary training there.

Construction Mechanic 1st Class Kevin Lowers, who is assigned to NECC, participated in the visit to Camp Peary and discussed his biggest take away, which came while visiting a preserved section of railway lines that once transported Seabees to Camp Peary to begin boot camp training.

"The emotional feeling when touching those rails and knowing that hundreds of thousands of Seabees came through here [and] developed the spirit of the Navy," said Lowers. "You can almost feel their souls coming in [and] going off to support our nation during the time of war."

As builders who could fight signed up to serve in the U.S. Navy, they arrived at Camp Perry to undergo five weeks of training prior to being shipped off to far away destinations. The men who enlisted largely came from careers in building and construction trades.

NECC's Command Master Chief Corey Heinrich discussed some of the significant takeaways from the visit.

"Even being in the Seabees as long as I have, I am still learning about our heritage," said Heinrich. "I did not personally know about Camp Perry."

Cmdr. Eileen D'Andrea helped to coordinate the visit and emphasized the importance of learning about our Navy's history, as well as the rich and diverse Seabee history.

"It is important to remember where we came from and where we started," said D'Andrea. "It's important that we remember the conditions our Seabees went through when they first came here."

The commander added that she has always found it fascinating to examine closely the origins of the Seabees.

Camp Peary also had some famous visitors who met with and encouraged Seabees before they departed to serve in the European or Pacific theaters from 1942 to 1944. Bob Hope, was one of those famous celebrities who performed a live radio show on June 8 and June 15, 1943 from the Camp Peary Theater. Additionally, the movie "The Fighting Seabees" was debuted at the Camp Peary Theater.

NECC is an enduring warfighting force providing sea-to-shore and inland operating environment capabilities across the full range of military operations, and is focused on delivering combat effective expeditionary forces ready for worldwide operations now and into the future.


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