Seabee Engineer Reconnaissance Teams (SERTs) are a new organizational concept developed by the First Naval Construction Division (1st NCD) during Operation Iraqi Freedom intended to provide more engineering

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

 capability on the battlefield in support of the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

. SERTs are composed of ten-member teams: two Civil Engineer Corps

Civil Engineer Corps

The Civil Engineer Corps is a staff corps of the United States Navy. CEC officers are professional engineers and architects, acquisitions specialists and Seabee Combat Warfare Officers. They are responsible for executing and managing the planning, design, acquisition, construction, operation, and...

 (CEC) officers and eight enlisted Seabee

Seabee

Seabees are members of the United States Navy construction battalions. The word Seabee is a proper noun that comes from the initials of Construction Battalion, of the United States Navy...

s, augmented with additional personnel, as missions require.

SERTs are divided into three elements: a liaison element, a security element and a reconnaissance

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 element. The liaison (LNO) element has a CEC officer and two petty officer

Petty Officer

A petty officer is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotion OR-6. They are equal in rank to sergeant, British Army and Royal Air Force. A Petty Officer is superior in rank to Leading Rate and subordinate to Chief Petty Officer, in the case of the British Armed...

s that are communications specialists. The LNO element is responsible for communications with higher echelon

Echelon

Echelon may refer to:* A level or rank in an organization, profession, or society.* Echelon formation, a military hierarchical formation, also used to describe the migratory patterns of birds...

s, both in transferring engineering assessments and intelligence

Intelligence (information gathering)

Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...

 and in receiving engineering reach-back solutions. The reconnaissance element has a CEC officer, who is the SERT Officer-in-Charge (OIC), a Builder

Builder (US Navy)

Builder is a United States Navy occupational rating. A builder is responsible for the construction and repair of wood, concrete, and masonry structures. Their work can involve sheet rock, ceramic tile, or painting, while senior personnel deal with material estimates and labor projections...

 or Steelworker chief petty officer

Chief Petty Officer

A chief petty officer is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards.-Canada:"Chief Petty Officer" refers to two ranks in the Canadian Navy...

 that has some bridge construction experience, and petty officers of varying Seabee ratings.

The OIC is normally a licensed professional engineer with civil

Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

/structural engineering

Structural engineering

Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....

 background.

All SERT units include a Navy Corpsman

United States Navy Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman

The Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsmen are corpsmen that provide the Marine Air-Ground Task Force reconnaissance teams advanced trauma management associated with combatant diving and parachute entry...

.

All members are carefully selected from among the top Seabees in their battalions and are qualified as Seabee Combat Warfare Specialists.