[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 141 (Tuesday, September 12, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1766]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           IN RECOGNITION OF MOBILE CONSTRUCTION BATTALION 2

                                 ______


                          HON. JAMES V. HANSEN

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 12, 1995
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, and colleagues, I rise today to pay tribute 
to a special group of America's unsung heroes--the U.S. Navy Seabees. 
In particular, I want to tell you the story of one such group of these 
heroes and the tremendous service they provided our Nation over 40 
years ago.
  The story of USN Mobile Construction Battalion 2, stationed at Port 
Hueneme and Cubi Point, began in the spring of 1952. Commanding officer 
Comdr. Charles C. Compton, and the 12 officers and 464 men of MCB 2, 
sailed for the Philippines aboard the U.S.S. Menard [APA-201] on June 
9. The job of the battalion, and their colleagues of MCB's 3 and 5, was 
to carve a new naval air facility out of the hilly peninsula, called 
Cubi Point, adjacent to the Subic Bay Naval Station.
  Over the next years, the men of MCB 2, clad in traditional Seabee 
greens or rubberized suits to fend off the relentless summer rains, 
constructed one of our Nation's most important strategic airfields. The 
battalion completed several enormous projects including the removal of 
the top 90 feet of Mount Muritan, a rock mountain which blocked the 
approach to the future airfield. Major construction projects, including 
a large and remote ammunition storage facility, a tank farm built on 
top of a swamp, a new water system, and the Camayan Point-Cubi Point 
road, tested the skills, dedication, and versatility of the Seabees. In 
all, millions of cubic yards of earth were moved, reservoirs providing 
over 2.5 million gallons of water were built, and a new naval air 
facility was born.
  The facilities these unsung heroes built would serve our Nation and 
her allies well for the next 40 years. The story of MCB 2 and Cubi 
Point is repeated each year by Seabee units around the world. Never 
knowing what they would be doing next, the men of Mobile Construction 
Battalion 2 remained confident in their ability to go anywhere at 
anytime and build anything asked of them, for they were the Navy's 
``Fighting Seabees.''