"The Dirty Dozen +1" -- Modular Asphalt Plant Assembly 1981

The opportunity to operationally test the largest piece of SEABEE equipment in Prepositioned War Material Storage at Naval Constuction Battalion Center (NCBC), Davisville, R.I. is extremely rare. When the Commander, U.S. Naval Construction Battalions, Atlantic Fleet (COMCBLANT) requested exactly that, the Construction Equipment Department(CED) of NCBC Davisville began coordinating the removal of all the components from storage and preparing the Action Plan for this complex task. Construction Equipment Department Officer-in-Charge, Lieutenant (jg) Nick Zeoli USN, was responsible for the overall mission to fully assemble and test the 100 ton-per-hour Barber Greene Continuous Mix Asphalt Plant. The plant had been used for over ten years by active duty SEABEES, primarily in the construction of the U.S. base on the remote island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. In need of refurbishing, it had been shipped back to Davisville, where the highly skilled civilian employees of the CED totally repaired or replaced everything on each separate component to return the plant to "like new" condition. Once rebuilding was complete, each component was turned over to the Supply Department's storage branch for crating, and placement in temperature and humidity controlled warehouses, awaiting possible future wartime use.

Just how well would this plant perform if ever needed in a wartime emergency? Just how long would it take a crew of SEABEES to unpack and assemble it in some remote location? Just how many SEABEES of which rating specialties should be assigned the task, ( since no skilled civilians could be expected to help),and in what specific order should the steps of assembly be followed? Just what types of support equipment are needed to assemble the plant. All these questions and more would be answered by this assembly exercise, and a detailed work-flow diagram to be packaged with the plant would be produced, making it much easier for a SEABEE crew anywhere in the world to receive this plant, follow the instructions, and get it working as quickly as possible to perform its wartime mission. Additionally, once running as normal, the plant would be a training aid to familiarize a new generation of SEABEES with a critical piece of their wartime inventory not commonly used by all units in peacetime.

The assembly phase of the operation was a success. The plant was properly assembled without any personal or material mishaps, in the time allowed. Both civilian and SEABEE crewmembers appreciated the chance to work together on a successful project which was definitely a break from routine! A listing of the thirteen SEABEE crewmembers who made up the "Dirty Dozen + 1" is seen below. A detailed photo essay on the plant assembly and the functioning of the components can be found in the Photos and Insignia Gallery on this site.

Normand Dupuis EOC USNR-(Ret.)

Modular Asphalt Plant Assembly
Naval Construction Battalion Center
Davisville, Rhode Island
April, 1981

"The Dirty Dozen + 1"
SEABEE Crewmembers

#	NAME	Home City/State	Rate/Rank	Unit
1)	R.Gignac	Hyattsville, MD	Utilitiesman 1st Cl.	RNMCB-23
2)	C. Vaughn	Lothian, MD	Utilitiesman 2nd Cl.	RNMCB-23
3)	G. Parmes	California, MD	Equip. Operator 3rd Cl.	RNMCB-23
4)	E. Basser	Duquesne, PA	Constr. Mechanic 2nd Cl.	RNMCB-23
5)	N. Dupuis	Newport News, VA	Equip. Operator 2nd Cl.	RNMCB-23
6)	F. Morse	Lexington Park, MD	Constr. Mechanic 1st Cl.	RNMCB-23
7)	L. Chappell	Suffolk, VA	Constr. Mechanic 2nd Cl.	RNMCB-23
8)	L. Bordonnaro	Greensburg, PA	Constr. Mechanic 2nd Cl	RNMCB-23
9)	B. Cain	Brownsville, PA	Equip. Operator 3rd Cl.	RMNCB-23
10)	T. Hart	Rodman, NY	Equip. Operator 2nd Cl.	21st RNCR
11)	C. Chase	Coventry, CT	Equip. Operator 3rd Cl	21st RNCR
12)	P. Guimond	Laurence Harbor. NJ	Equip. Operator 2nd Cl.	RNMCB-13
13)	F. Azzarello	Staten Island, NY	Constr. Mechanic 1st CL.	RNMCB-13

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