Effingham native exemplifies legacy of U.S. Navy Seabees
Navy Office of Community Outreach
GULFPORT, Miss. – “We Build, We Fight” has been the motto of the U. S. Navy’s Construction Force, known as the “Seabees,” for more than 75 years.
Constructionman Seth Vanausdoll, a 2017 South Florence High School graduate and native of Effingham, builds and fights around the world as a member of naval construction battalion center in Gulfport, Miss.
Vanausdoll is serving as a Navy construction mechanic, who is responsible for keeping up with scheduled maintenance on equipment for the command.
Vanausdoll credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned growing up in Effingham.
“Before I joined the Navy I was a maintenance technician at an oil change shop and that gave me the basics for what I was going to be doing in the Navy,” said Vanausdoll.
Building in austere environments can be a challenge. Fighting in harsh conditions can also be a challenge. Building in austere environments while fighting in harsh conditions takes a special kind of person with a great deal of perseverance and determination.
These are the kinds of people serving here at Gulfport, the home of the Atlantic Fleet Seabees.
These are the people who provide crucial support to Seabee units deployed around the world.
The jobs of many of today’s Seabees remained unchanged since World War II, when the Seabees paved the 10,000-mile road to victory for the allies in the Pacific and in Europe, according to Lara Godbille, director of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum.
For more than 75 years Seabees have served in all American conflicts.
They have also supported humanitarian efforts using their construction skills to help communities around the world.
They aid following earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters.
Vanausdoll is playing an important part in America’s focus on rebuilding military readiness, strengthening alliances and reforming business practices in support of the National Defense Strategy.
A key element of the Navy the nation needs is tied to the fact that America is a maritime nation, according to Navy officials, and that the nation’s prosperity is tied to the ability to operate freely on the world’s oceans.
More than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water; 80 percent of the world’s population lives close to a coast; and 90 percent of all global trade by volume travels by sea.
“Our priorities center on people, capabilities and processes, and will be achieved by our focus on speed, value, results and partnerships,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. “Readiness, lethality and modernization are the requirements driving these priorities.”
Though there are many ways for sailors to earn distinction in their command, community and career, Vanausdoll is most proud of being a part of the battalion and the chance to learn more about his job.
“I’m constantly learning more about the maintenance on our equipment and getting better at my job,” said Vanausdoll.
Serving in the Navy is a continuing tradition of military service for Vanausdoll, who has military ties with family members who have previously served.
Vanausdoll is honored to carry on that family tradition.
“There were several men in my family who served in the military and this was always something that I wanted to do,” said Vanausdoll.