Seabees Say Thanks to City They Call Home : Port Hueneme: About 30,000 civilians are expected to attend the Naval Construction Battalion’s jamboree this weekend.

Port Hueneme has opened its arms to Seabees for five decades. On Saturday, the Naval Construction Battalion returned the favor.

Nine hundred white-clad Seabees kicked off a weekend festival for Ventura County civilians with a morning full-dress parade, marching alongside their military-green bulldozers, cranes and front-loaders.

During the almost hourlong march and assembly, commanding officer Capt. James L. Delker praised members of three local Seabee families: one an enlisted man who served in three wars, another who runs the base’s recreation programs, and a couple who operate the Seabee museum.

The enlisted man is now Port Hueneme Councilman James Daniels, who retired near the base after serving in World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam wars.

He said it is difficult to find a city resident not related to the base in some way.

“(We) speak the same language,” Daniels said of the city and the center.

The city has about 21,000 residents.

The base employs about 9,000 military and civilian personnel.

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An annual event since 1986, except for a 1991 break because of the Persian Gulf War, the Seabee Jamboree is expected to draw more than 30,000 people this weekend.

It features carnival rides, live bands, karaoke contests, puppet shows, and hands-on displays by Seabees who explain what they do in foreign lands before the armed troops arrive.

“They work hard,” said Joseph Saipale, 10, of Oxnard just before he helped muscle a two-person saw through a thick log with a Seabee.

“It’s a challenge,” added 12-year-old Joey Cerda of Port Hueneme, also slowly sawing under the bright sun.

He said he might want to become a Seabee himself. “I like tough challenges.”

Thousands of families turned out Saturday for the summer carnival--some to learn more about Seabee operations and others just to have good, clean fun.

“We came so the kids can enjoy the festival,” said Ted Cannon, 27, of Port Hueneme, as he surveyed carnival rides with his wife and two young children.

“And it’s a means of bringing the community together. . . . Many of our friends work in civil service on the base.”

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The Port Hueneme base is home to about half of the nation’s 5,000 Seabees in mobile construction battalions, said spokeswoman Linda Wadley.

It is the only Seabee base on the West Coast, with the others stationed in Gulfport, Miss.

The Seabees came to Port Hueneme in 1942 to serve as a construction force for the Marines, Wadley said.

They are deployed during wartime to build facilities ranging from barracks and tents to runways, roads and bridges.

During peacetime, units travel throughout the world on construction projects.

In Port Hueneme, the Seabees’ importance goes beyond strategic deployment.

Councilman Daniels said base jobs are vital to his city.

And Seabees are involved in community activities such as tutoring and speaking at local schools.

And many go on to hold construction jobs in the county after tours of duty or going into retirement.

Spokeswoman Wadley said the base pours $470 million into the county economy each year through employment, contracts with local construction firms and the purchase of supplies.

“You almost can’t go anywhere in the county where someone there doesn’t have a neighbor, a friend or a family member associated with the Navy,” Wadley said.