US Navy commissions Seabee Training and Evaluation Unit 1 to certify Pacific construction forces

The US Navy has commissioned Seabee Training and Evaluation Unit (STEU) 1, a new command responsible for training and certifying Pacific Fleet Naval Construction Force units before they deploy. The ceremony took place on 16 October at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, California, where the unit is headquartered.

According to the Navy’s account published on DVIDS, STEU 1 is the training and evaluation authority for the Pacific Fleet’s Naval Construction Force commands under Naval Construction Group 1. It will teach advanced combat and technical skills and validate unit capabilities during the Optimized Fleet Response Plan cycle, ahead of deployments to the Indo-Pacific. The Chief of Naval Operations administratively established the unit on 1 May 2026.

Leadership and purpose

Capt. Andrew Litteral, commodore of Naval Construction Group 1, presided. Lt. Cmdr. Gerard Ramoutar read his orders and took command, and Seabee Master Chief Ryan Sweet, the unit’s command master chief, designed its heraldry. The unit’s colors were unfurled and its first watch was set during the ceremony.

Litteral said “readiness is our strongest deterrent and our decisive edge if deterrence fails” and that deployed units “cannot afford a learning curve”. Ramoutar said STEU 1 “stands ready to deliver that training and ensure our forces are certified to win”.

The Navy describes the stand-up as part of a realignment under Navy Force Design, with the stated aims of improving readiness, formalising pre-deployment qualifications and preserving expeditionary engineering billets in the Pacific. The same ceremony marked the disestablishment of Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 303. STEU 1 is a subordinate command of Naval Construction Group 1 and operates within Navy Expeditionary Forces.

Details of the unit’s size and the number of units it will certify each year were not given in the Navy release.