“Bat Out of Hell”
The 15th Naval Construction Battalion, also called as NMCB – 15, was commissioned on July 20, 1942 at Camp Allen, Virginia. The group was part of the island-hopping campaign of American forces in the Pacific during WWII.
NMCB-15’s primary mission is to provide rapid contingency construction support for operational forces during regional contingencies, large or small. During World War II, the battalion served with distinction and honors, building advance base camps and airfields throughout the Pacific Theater of Operations. They cleared bleachers, built air strips, and established logistical installations on several significant islands.
Today, major tasks include support disaster recovery and humanitarian operations, foreign or domestic, when directed.
NMCB-15 is one of the 20 Naval Mobile Construction Battalions located throughout the NINTH Naval Construction Regiment in Ft. Worth, TX, to the FIRST Naval Construction Division, Little Creek. Personnel from ten detachments in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota make up NMCB-15.
Legend has it that a Marine commander in the Pacific praised the battalion’s hard work by observing that the Seabees were “going like a bat out of hell.” The remark soon became NMCB-15’s motto. The bat logo, on the other hand, is believed that the child of a unit member drew the first prototype. Some said it was developed after war.
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