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NEWS | Jan. 25, 2016

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 Tackles Japan's Jungle

By Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Gomez

OKINAWA, Japan – Seabees assigned to U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3 successfully completed jungle warfare training, Jan. 15.

Forty-seven Seabees took to the Northern Training Area (NTA) at the remote Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Training Course (JWTC) at Camp Gonsalves to participate alongside Marines in the Basic Skills Course. The rigorous five-day course teaches the skills necessary to sustain combat operations in the jungle environment.

JWTC is a training camp run exclusively by Marine instructors to build confidence by introducing tough, team-building exercises to every service member that participates. For this particular exercise, the instructors pushed Seabees through a 3.4-mile jungle endurance course.

“I loved it,” said Builder Constructionman Apprentice Anthony H. Harris. “I jumped into it not knowing what was going to happen. My favorite part was the endurance course [because] it tests your skills physically and mentally, pushing yourself to the very limits.”

The course focused on practical application of skills such as first aid, communications, booby traps, knot tying, rappelling, land navigation and patrolling.

“We kept each other motivated,” said Builder 2nd Class Octavio Garcia. “I liked it because we figured out how to work together. Someone had an idea [so] we tried it and it worked. Team work was the most important part of the training.”

The JWTC occupies 17,500 acres of jungle in the NTA. The hilly and rugged terrain, topped with single and double canopy forest has been challenging Marines and Sailors in the art of jungle warfare for more than 50 years.

NMCB 3 is homeported in Port Hueneme, California, and is currently deployed to Okinawa, Japan. The mission of NMCB 3 is to support Navy and joint forces throughout the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) area of responsibility (AOR) through construction projects and humanitarian missions in more than 13 different geographical locations.

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