Seabees Ready for Duty, Doing What They ‘Do Very Well’ : Construction: Naval battalion will leave today, prepare the way for vessels moving into Somali ports.

Navy Seabee Jana Edge, 19, is long on confidence that she is up to the challenge in Somalia.

She and 123 other Seabees from Amphibious Construction Battalion 1 were standing in formation Tuesday on a grassy parade field near North Island Naval Air Station. Wearing Kevlar helmets, combat gear and carrying M-16 assault rifles, they waited for orders to board Air Force C-5 transports that would fly them to Somalia.

“It’s our job. It’s what Seabees do very well,” said Edge, a heavy equipment operator who has been in the service 11 months. “Our mission is to go over there and help those poor people.”

Edge’s battalion, Assault Craft Unit 1 and Beachmaster Unit 1--all part of Naval Beach Group 1--will prepare the way for ships bringing more troops and supplies into Somalian ports. Many of the Seabees stationed at the Naval Amphibious Base at Coronado are veterans of the Persian Gulf War.

Capt. Tom Fitzgibbons, commander of Naval Beach Group One, said the Seabees’ job will be to prepare the port facilities and help unload the ships scheduled to dock in Somalia in a few days with reinforcements and supplies.

The Seabees (short for construction battalions--CBs) learned their departure schedule Monday night. About half of them departed Tuesday night, with the rest scheduled to leave this morning.

Earlier, as the somber Seabees waited in the early morning chill, they expressed disappointment over being away from home during Christmas. But to a sailor, they were motivated by their humanitarian mission.

“When you see the broadcasts, you feel for the Somalis,” said Jean Pierre Shackelford, 21, of Columbus, Ohio. “You can’t just stand by. We have to do something. I feel real proud to be part of this mission.”

Fitzgibbons observed, “You’re never thrilled about leaving during Christmas. But this mission is one that makes you feel good.”

The troops had been instructed to say goodby to their loved ones Monday night. But several Seabee wives had been through the ritual in 1991, when their husbands left for Operation Desert Storm.

On Tuesday, not even a battalion of Marines could keep some wives away from the parade field. Keeping a safe distance from the assembled Seabees, the women exchanged nervous glances with their husbands.

Shackelford’s wife, Camille, 22, and the couple’s 22-month-old daughter, Raven, stayed patiently in the background, waiting for him to lift the baby into his arms one last time before he left.

“I know they need him, but we need him too,” said a tearful Camille Shackelford.

At least 10 of the 124 or so Seabees deploying for Somalia are women. Edge, a native of Yerington, Nev., and the other women symbolize both the new look of the Seabees and their traditional “can do” motto.

U.S. troops headed for Somalia have been issued desert camouflage uniforms, except for the Seabees. Following a tradition that dates to World War II, the Seabees will continue to wear “Seabee-green.”

“Seabees wear this uniform all over the world. A lot of people associate Seabee-green with help,” said Cmdr. Chuck Navin, leader of Amphibious Construction Battalion 1.

A few minutes before 9 a.m., the Seabees began loading their personal gear onto trucks and boarded buses for the ride to North Island Naval Air Station and two waiting transport planes.

But “hurry up and wait” was the operative military axiom. When the Seabees arrived at the air base, they were told that the Air Force was not ready to send both planes.

Although half of them did depart Tuesday evening, the rest spent the night on cots inside a helicopter hangar before their departure today. They were not allowed to visit with their loved ones.

“I kind of figured this would happen,” said Petty Officer Carl Stanford. “They tell us where to go, what to do. We do it. That’s it.”