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 capability on the battlefield in support of the United States Marine Corps. SERTs are composed of ten-member teams: two Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officers and eight enlisted Seabees, augmented with additional personnel, as missions require.
SERTs are divided into three elements: a liaison element, a security element and a reconnaissance element. The liaison (LNO) element has a CEC officer and two petty officers that are communications specialists. The LNO element is responsible for communications with higher echelons, both in transferring engineering assessments and intelligence and in receiving engineering reach-back solutions. The reconnaissance element has a CEC officer, who is the SERT Officer-in-Charge (OIC), a Builder or Steelworker chief petty officer that has some bridge construction experience, and petty officers of varying Seabee ratings.
The OIC is normally a licensed professional engineer with civil/structural engineering background.
All SERT units include a Navy Corpsman.
All members are carefully selected from among the top Seabees in their battalions and are qualified as Seabee Combat Warfare Specialists.