I’m not going to even add to the headline. Seabees says it all. Another miracle by these Navy guys.
CJTF-Horn of Africa
Story by MC1 Mary Popejoy CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
In a combined effort, Seabees from Camp Lemonier Public Works, Mobile Utilities Support Equipment out of Port Hueneme, Calif. and Naval Mobile Construction Battalion-133 lifted six generators with railroad industry jacks; vice a crane on Camp Lemonier, Djibouti July 24-25.
The one mega watt generators weighing in at 110,000 pounds each will provide electrical capacity and capability to support the camp’s $30 million berthing project.
“They will help alleviate existing burdens placed on the camp by the 1,800 personnel that support the Joint Task Force Horn of Africa’s mission of preventing conflict, promoting stability and providing humanitarian assistance throughout the region,” said Senior Chief Construction Electrician (SCW) Matt Smith, Camp Lemonier utilities director and Seabee Power Plant manager for Public Works.
The generators, capable of supplying enough power for approximately 1,000 American homes, arrived by ship and were loaded onto flatbed trucks at the Port of Djibouti. Since a crane is so hard to come by in this part of the world, the Seabees had to get creative and figure out how they could do this without a big piece of the puzzle, a crane.
“The Seabees looked to the railroad industry since they’ve used electric jacks for decades to perform maintenance on their box cars,” said Smith. “With a few minor adjustments, the common railcar jacks were a natural fit for the off-loading requirements. This “out of the box” approach took the mission from “the impossible” to “easily done” while saving over $300,000 in crane rental fees.”
In addition to saving money, Seabees were able to execute this project ahead of schedule, which will allow for more and more people to enjoy the new changes on base.
“The Seabees are the only force that could’ve gotten us the power in the time frame we needed it,” said Capt. John Heckmann Jr., Camp Lemonier commanding officer. “Right now we can’t power all of the containerized living units we have, so this will definitely increase our power capability so we can enjoy the new improvements we’re putting in place.”
Currently the generators are pre-staged on camp until the next phase of the generator evolution gets underway.
