In 1942, the navy sought a location for an advance base on the West Coast to ship construction materiel, equipment, and men into World War II's Pacific theater. Port Hueneme's deepwater harbor, rail system, and rural setting made it the ideal site from which to send 20 million measurement tons of war materiel and a quarter of a million men onto island specks that later became headlines: Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Philippines. Seabees later deployed from Port Hueneme to serve in the Korean, Vietnam, Desert Shield/Desert Storm, and Iraqi conflicts, as well as in peacetime, for more than 60 years. Charged with building air bases, ports, combat camps, hospitals, and other support facilities as part of military and humanitarianefforts around the world, the Seabees remain at home in Port Hueneme.
Gina Nichols, U.S. Navy archivist for the CEC/Seabee Archives in Port Hueneme, has assembled the most striking images from a voluminous 250,000-plus collection for this pictorial treasure trove, highlighting a force of many specialties that has prided itself on being able to lay down tarmac or erect a bridge, hospital, or base practically overnight.