Fighting Tradesmen

Fighting Tradesmen. . , During World War I, the Public Works Department at Great Lakes was tasked with the original construction of new facilities. Originally, Public Works was to use local civilian contractors. The problem, however, was that patriotic tradesmen joined the armed forces in such numbers at Great Lakes that there were not enough qualified civilians to meet local construction needs. Captain Moffett and the Public Works Officer looked to new recruits with construction skills as a solution to the problem. As their numbers increased, they needed a military structure and soon acquired regimental status, becoming the Twelfth Regiment (Public Works). Tradesmen initially spent three or four months at Great Lakes before transferred to sea duty or deploying to other commands., They became known as the “Fighting Tradesmen” because of their outstanding performance and were a precursor to the World War II “Fighting Seabees”.