FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. – Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3’s embedded mental health clinician spent three days with the battalion during their field training exercise (FTX) at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., May 13-16.
According to Kimberly Tazagouzit, she was hired by Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) to fill a staff position with NMCB 3 and help ensure warfighter readiness.
“NECC wanted us to be a part of the team,” said Tazagouzit. “It’s stressful balancing home, family and operational responsibilities. I’m here to help keep [Seabees] in the fight by being a person they can talk to.”
With two decades of behavioral health and emergency mental health experience for both hospital staff and first responders, Tazagouzit said the opportunity to place herself in the same shoes as the people she is trying to help was essential.
“For me, it was important to come out here and show camaraderie,” said Tazagouzit. “To be able to experience what they are experiencing, gives me more insight and helps me effectively talk about what is going on with that troop.”
Tazagouzit spent three days with the Seabees experiencing first hand chemical, biological and radiological simulated attacks, intruders in camp exercises and defensive combat action drills – all routine experiences for Seabees during FTX.
“NMCB 3 is doing great!” said Tazagouzit. “[They are] very focused on the mission. I am very proud to be attached to the Seabees.”
NMCB 3 is conducting their final graded field training exercise (FTX), testing the battalion’s command and control functions through a variety of realistic scenarios encountered during Seabee deployments.
The Seabee battalion provides commanders and Navy component commanders with combat ready warfighters capable of general engineering, construction and limited combat engineering across the full range of military operations.
Fort Hunter Liggett is the largest installation in the Army Reserve, with more than 160,000 acres of mountains, valleys, rivers, plains and forests. It provides maneuver areas and state of the art training facilities for active and reserve Army units, and for all components of the Department Defense and several allied nations.
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