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Seabee battalion heading overseas

SAN DIEGO — The first groups of a battalion of Navy Seabees packed their bags and prepared to board flights Friday through Monday from their California base for overseas duty.

About 437 members of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 are deploying from their home at Port Hueneme, part of Naval Base Ventura County, about two hours west of Los Angeles, for the scheduled deployment. They will depart Aug. 1 to Aug. 4 on flights from Point Mugu Naval Air Station.

They are the advance parties for the battalion, which is splitting off and sending members to four locales, where the officers and sailors will help coordinate logistics and prepare the camps for the remaining sailors with the battalion scheduled to deploy by mid-August.

The majority of the Seabees — 226 of them — are heading to Kuwait, said Teri Reid, a Ventura County base spokeswoman.

Another 113 will go to the Horn of Africa, while 62 others will spend their deployment in Rota, Spain, and another 36 will deploy to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, she said.