TME Looks Back: Inspiring Collaboration and Inclusion

In celebration of Women’s History Month (March) as well as the 82nd anniversary of the establishment of the Navy Construction Battalions in 1942 (March 5), TME Looks Back to an influential moment from 1994 that set the stage for more women to serve as Seabees in the U.S. Navy and as leaders across the deploying engineer units. The following article, entitled “Inspiring Collaboration and Inclusion,” appeared in the Remarks from the President column, March-April 2017 issue of TME.

Then-SAME National President, retired Navy captain Mike Blount, took to the pages of TME to highlight ongoing efforts by the Society to increase the number of women interested in leadership opportunities while sharing the personal story of fellow Navy engineer Capt. Kathy Donovan, CEC, USN, who was a trailblazer for female military engineers. That same issue of TME included a 40-page special feature commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the Seabees, interestingly enacted by another SAME leader of the past, Rear Adm. Ben Moreell, USN, who in 1942 while also serving as Society President, established the Navy Construction Battalions. Known as the “Father of the Seabees,” Moreell remains the only Civil Engineer Corps officer to achieve the four-star rank of admiral (and is the namesake of a prestigious annual award presented by SAME to a Navy engineer officer for excellence). In 1937, he assumed duties as Chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Yards & Docks and Chief of Civil Engineers. In late December 1941 and early January 1942, as U.S. involvement in World War II began, in response to what were immediate and significant military construction demands, he requested and received authority to recruit civilians from the construction workforce into the Navy as sailors who would both build and fight. On March 5, 1942, the Navy Construction Battalions were officially formed—the “Seabees” were born.

Donovan’s retelling of how she helped ensure Seabees were included in a transformative Defense Department policy change in 1994 underscores the value of not just advocating for what is right, but having the persistence to make it happen. While as Donovan explains, women had served as Seabees before (article via U.S. Navy Seabee Museum), they had not, until 1994, been permitted to deploy with the combat units, the very thing that made Seabees the unique asset they were.

SAME’s continued diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts also would increase in the years following, and in 2019 led to the establishment of what would later become the DEI Subcommittee under the Membership COI.

Reprinted from The Military Engineer, March-April 2017

Inspiring Collaboration and Inclusion

I have been fortunate to travel across SAME over the last few months, including a trip to Japan to meet with the Posts in the Far East and to Europe for the SAME European Region Engineer Capabilities Workshop. One of the biggest highlights for me was participating in the Jacksonville Post Industry Event that was co-hosted by the First Coast Chapter of Women In Defense (WID). This event underscores the compounding impact we have when we join with others, as we “lead collaborative efforts to identify and resolve national security infrastructure-related challenges.”

The mission of WID is to “cultivate and support the advancement and recognition of women in all aspects of national security.” Clearly, our missions are complementary.

For SAME, we cultivate the participation of women in identifying and resolving national security infrastructure-related challenges. I continue to enjoy benefiting from the wisdom, commitment and professionalism of Jane Penny, F.SAME, who is currently serving on the national leadership team as Past President. In the spirit of Jane’s recognition as SAME’s first female national president, one of the highlights of the SAME-WID event in Jacksonville was meeting Rear Adm. Mary Jackson, USN, who was recently nominated for the rank of vice admiral and to assume command as the new Commander, Navy Installations Command. She is one of the few U.S. Navy flag officers ever to be promoted directly from one-star to three-stars. That says it all! Her support for SAME and our collaborative vision was clear.

As I prepared for the event, I investigated a simple question: How is SAME doing in cultivating the participation of women?

Working to Ensure Diversity

For the Seabees’ first 52 years, women were not allowed in Naval Mobile Construction Battalions. Though probably inevitable eventually, in 1994, now-Capt. Kathy Donovan, CEC, USN, accelerated their inclusion by great hustle. Her account of how women were brought into the Seabees typifies the “Can Do!” spirit.

SAME membership is 18 percent female. We draw from the uniformed services, which are 15 percent female; the engineering, architecture and construction professions, which range from 10 percent to 20 percent female; and scientists and marketing professionals, which are a higher percentage female. You may say “mission accomplished.” Not so—we are still not properly represented by 51 percent of the population!

So, what are we doing to increase inclusion of women in SAME and in leadership positions? The Academy of Fellows and staff at the SAME National Office are reaching out and looking to level the playing field, finding those who might not “self-advocate” and pointing them to leadership opportunities. Once the individuals get the chance, they make the most of it themselves. We are also driving for better mentorship and leadership across the board, especially in our underrepresented groups.

We are advocating for stronger and more open succession plans, in which diversity is acknowledged. To emphasize, I am happy to report that the national officers nominating committee has selected one of our top Regional Vice Presidents and new SAME Fellow, Cindy Lincicome, F.SAME, to be a National Vice President. Lastly, we are working to change the entry statistics. The SAME STEM/Engineering & Construction Camps are closer to 30 percent female, and we drive for our campers to choose a STEM field as a career path.

As we continue to gain momentum throughout 2017, we will build on our collaborative successes, our drive for diversity in every way, and the achievement of our vision to become recognized as the multi-disciplined integrator for the A/E/C industry of military, public, private, and academic national infrastructure-related capabilities. In fact, this issue of TME includes a special feature on the Navy Seabees, who are celebrating their 75th Anniversary on March 5, 2017. For the Seabees’ first 52 years, women were not allowed in Naval Mobile Construction Battalions. Though probably inevitable eventually, in 1994, now-Capt. Kathy Donovan, CEC, USN, accelerated their inclusion by great hustle. Her account of how women were brought into the Seabees typifies the “Can Do!” spirit.

“I was assigned to the CEC Detailer Office in the spring of 1994. My boss tasked me to track the draft naval message that would alter the definition of direct ground combat and the assignment rules to impacted commands. I would wander the halls of the Navy Annex chasing the physical location of the red folder that contained the draft message and attempt to get a feel for which way the winds were blowing. We followed the draft message, which did not mention Seabees, through the Atlantic and Pacific Fleet staffs, then to the Director of Navy Staff, the VCNO, and ultimately the CNO. Any time the red folder changed offices, we told the Head Detailer, who would brief the Chief of the Civil Engineer Corps.

As the release date of the message approached, I eventually tracked down the female Lieutenant Commander Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) and her YN3 who were actually typing the message into the system and were going to release it. In typical Navy Headquarters fashion, it was well past 1700 [5 p.m.] on a Friday and her Eighth Wing office was noticeably vacant as she informed me that she was making some last-minute corrections and was going to release the message that night. As I read the message over her shoulder, I saw that Seabees were still not included, and I casually asked why Seabees had never been considered.

With a fair amount of incredulity and in the saltiest SWO language she could muster, she stated she had been stationed in Sigonella and knew that there were female Seabees already, so there was no need to include them. I explained that although Seabee ratings were open to women, the deploying units were not. She and her YN3 were shocked. She asked me to write on a yellow sticky what commands were not open to females. I was very unoriginal and copied the SWO paragraph in the message and wrote: ‘All units of the Naval Construction Force not impacted by ship alterations will be opened for the assignment of women.’ After handing the yellow sticky note to the YN3, I hustled back to the detailer shop to let my boss know that the message would be released in the morning and that I had added the Seabees.

The Bureau of Personnel issued policy regarding the assignment of women to combat units. I was now part of a team assigning women to NMCBs and ACBs. The policy required that two female ‘khakis,’ an officer and a senior enlisted, be assigned to a unit before junior enlisted personnel could receive orders. Lt. Michaela Bradley, CEC, USN, a prior enlisted Steelworker First Class, was the first female officer to report to a Naval Mobile Construction Battalion when she checked onboard NMCB 133 in Gulfport, Miss., May 1994. The first female member of a NMCB Chief’s Mess was Senior Chief Equipment Operator Kathi Crawford, USN, who reported to NMCB 1. Due to an insufficient number of female CEC officers available for detailing, some of the first female officers to battalions were from the Supply Corps, Administration, and Medical Communities (Doctors and Dentists).”

Because of her actions late that afternoon, Kathy Donovan went on to be a Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Operations Officer, Commanding Officer of a Navy Provisional Detainee Battalion in Iraq, and Commodore of a Seabee Regiment. She retires from the Navy this spring as Chief of Staff for the Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command. Let us all wish her “fair winds and following seas” and salute all Seabees and women in defense for all they have done and are continuing to do for our great country.

Capt. Michael L. Blount, P.E., LEED AP, F.SAME, USN (Ret.), SAME President 2016-2017

Celebrating a Century of Military Engineering

As SAME celebrates over a century of dedicated support for our national security, look back through our historical archives at how engineers and the Society have evolved to meet new challenges. TME Looks Back dives into the previous century of engineering history—and what it means for us in the modern day.