Seabees Modernize Airfield Repair on Historical Iceland Footprint
Operating under the rainy, cold conditions of the High North, U.S. Navy Seabees assigned to Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) 27 are validating a critical operational capability during exercise Northern Viking 2026 (NV26).
Through dedicated Airfield Damage Repair (ADR) evolutions, these construction specialists are training on the rapid coordination required to restore damaged runways and maintain the joint force’s primary aviation lifelines.
“Airfields are critical to how the joint force moves people, equipment and combat power,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Arthur Hines, future operations officer for the 22nd Naval Construction Regiment. “If an airfield is damaged, the ability to restore that operating surface directly affects how quickly aviation operations can continue.”
The Technical Assembly Line
The ADR process functions as a highly coordinated assembly line that brings multiple Naval Construction Force capabilities together to manage airfield infrastructure recovery. For this evolution, the Seabees utilized heavy engineering equipment to break up sections of the pavement, manually creating the damaged scenario holes to simulate tactical strikes without live explosives in the area.
Once the training craters were established, the crew executed a rigid, multi-step engineering sequence to return the surface to operational status:
- Excavation and Debris Clearing: Equipment operators use wheeled excavators with hammer attachments to break up the fractured, up-heaved concrete around the target crater. Heavy front-end loaders then scrape the area clear down to the stable subgrade soil.
- Backfill and Compaction: Builders fill the crater with lifts of crushed stone and aggregate ballast. A vibratory plate compactor or roller is run over the rock to ensure a dense, highly stable foundation that will not sink under heavy loads.
- The Concrete Cap: A volumetric mixer truck dispenses a specialized, rapid-setting cementitious cap material directly over the compacted stone. Unlike standard commercial concrete, this high-strength compound is engineered to withstand the immense landing stress of fully loaded tactical fighter jets within days of placement.
- Screeding and Finishing: The crew manually levels the wet mixture with an aluminum screed bar to match the exact elevation of the surrounding runway. Finally, mechanical kick brooms sweep the area to remove loose gravel, eliminating foreign object damage (FOD) risks to jet engines.
Connecting Construction to Combat Operations
For the personnel on the ground, the specialized nature of the mission shifts how they view their traditional construction roles.
“A lot of the construction skills are familiar, but the purpose changes how you approach the job,” explained Builder 1st Class Stephen Glovak, assigned to NCB 27. “You’re not building something from scratch. You’re working with damaged infrastructure and trying to restore that capability as efficiently as possible.”
This focus on rapid infrastructure recovery carries deep historical significance for the units involved. According to Chief Construction Mechanic Frank Harrison, NCB 27 operations chief, the mission directly mirrors the legacy of early Seabees who worked day and night under fire to repair the runway at Henderson Field during the Battle of Guadalcanal in September 1942.
“Our history as Seabees is deeply rooted in the rapid restoration of tactical aviation capabilities. When you look back at Guadalcanal in 1942, the fight for Henderson Field proved that a military unit is only as fast as its runway,” said Harrison. “That lesson still dictates our training today. We don’t clear debris and level craters for the sake of construction, but because that operational surface is the primary pipeline for combat power and humanitarian relief. Maintaining that capability is exactly how we honor the 'Can Do' legacy.”
The choice of training grounds in Iceland adds another historical parallel. The crews are utilizing segments of the decommissioned Patterson Air Field footprint near Road 44, the exact base built from the ground up by the 9th and 28th Naval Construction Battalions during World War II.
Strategic Logistics in the North Atlantic
The capability to fix runways rapidly has implications beyond tactical defense. Air assets provide the fastest logistics pipelines for both combat reinforcement and humanitarian assistance. While maritime supply chains can take days to reach isolated northern sectors, aviation assets can deliver emergency relief and medical evacuation programs within hours.
Sponsored by U.S. European Command and led by U.S. Naval Forces Europe and executed by U.S. Sixth Fleet, NV26 focuses on safeguarding strategic lines of communication across the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom (GIUK) gap. For the Reserve Seabees of NCB 27, practicing the high-speed choreography of ADR in Iceland's unpredictable environment ensures the team is prepared long before a real-world crisis demands it.
“The value is getting the repetition now,” Glovak said. “If we ever have to do this for real, we don’t want that to be the first time the crew has worked through the process together.”
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