Both the United States Navy Reserves and the Navy Seabees celebrate their birthdays next week.

The reserve branch of the Navy got its formal start on March 3, 1915, when it was known as the Federal Naval Reserve. This would last until 1916 when the Reserve was reorganized and re-christened the United States Naval Reserve Force. At the start of World War I, approximately 8,000 reserve members served, but by war’s end those numbers had swelled to 250,000. Navy reservists have served in every major war since then. Military.com provides additional information about the Navy Reserve and its 110 years of existence.

The birthday of the U.S. Navy Seabees, a combat-trained Navy construction unit with a dual mission to build and to fight, is March 5. The Seabees were established in 1942. They have provided naval engineering and construction capabilities to the United States and its allies and partners.

Admiral Ben Moreell proposed the creation of a new military unit in 1941 to address the need for skilled tradespeople. The Bureau of Navigation granted Moreell the power to recruit construction workers for three new Naval Construction Battalions in January 1942. The first Seabee unit was nicknamed the Bobcats. The Seabees were among the first to land during the World War II invasion of Normandy.  Like the Navy Reserve, they have been involved in every war and conflict since World War II. Their motto is “Construimus, Batuimus,” which means “We Build, We Fight.”