Special Boat Unit MARE Island

[Travelingchild]

While sorting some of my late fathers items I found this. Plaque it's about 5 inches in diameter and feels like solid brass.https://i.imgur.com/7riz69H.jpg

He was retired Master Sargent USAF (20 plus years),then Did a stint in the Navy as a Civilian retired from that in a fairly high GS? category.

Nothing unique he was in communications, In both.

Tried a little google didn't come up with much. Does this place/unit even exist still?

Would this be something he bought at a museum or something that given to him in a unofficial buddy swap?

Solid brass or bronze with some serious heft to it,

[rexster314]

You didn't drill down far enough. Maybe it's this, maybe not
https://www.warboats.org/SBU11.htm

[T2C]

Do you know what years he held a GS position with the U.S. Navy?

IIRC SBU 11 was decommissioned in 1997.

[Travelingchild]

Do you know what years he held a GS position with the U.S. Navy?

IIRC SBU 11 was decommissioned in 1997.

Not sure, His residence was in Stockton Ca. but he spent weekdays living in his RV somewhere in the Bay area while at work.

I'm still sorting through his stuff he only recently passed, Just thought it was an interesting bit of memorabilia.

Trying to figure out if was a tourist trinket he picketed up along the way or something a coworker let him have.

[polydeuces]

You didn't drill down far enough. Maybe it's this, maybe not
https://www.warboats.org/SBU11.htm

Thanks for that. Included was this, a very interesting must read:
https://www.warboats.org/Wikul.htm.

[BG94591]

Mare Island is considered part of my hometown of Vallejo Ca. It was/is a rough town, my mom worked on Mare Island for year until they shut it down in the mid 1990’s. I had great memories of fleet week there as a kid. My grandfather worked there as well, he was on the Submarines during his time there. During fleet week we’d get to go to Mare Island and they’d take us on rides in the patrol boat river (PBR) those things could turn on a dime. Then they’d fly a plane over and have a platoon of SEALs jump out and land in the Napa River then a PBR would come swoop them up. A buddy of mine that was a SEAL went to Mare Island to train before being sent to Vietnam, they said the sloughs etc were similar to the Mekong Delta.

[chuckman]

That's an ancient relic from an old time. I bet the NSW museum in Florida would love to have that.

[Nightvisionary]

In 1989 I attended Marine Corps Security Force School at the Mare Island naval base in California. The Special Boat unit was just down the driveway from our barracks and we walked past it everyday on our way to the mess hall. They used to be all over the northern end of San Francisco bay training in their boats. As I recall they wore BDU's and Black berets. The Special Boat unit mission seemed to center around riverine warfare/interdiction and the transport and insertion of SEAL teams. The base was deactivated many years ago.

[Travelingchild]

That's an ancient relic from an old time. I bet the NSW museum in Florida would love to have that.

I would like to donate it, best way of contacting?

[chuckman]

I would like to donate it, best way of contacting?

PM Will Brink on here, I believe he volunteers for the museum.

That's a great relic, those boat units were awesome. Now that they've formalized SWCC, the training and the units, if I had to do all over again I would have done that.

[T2C]

If you find anything that has Balboa Yacht Club on it with the SBU XI plaques and souvenirs, we may be able to narrow down the years your father worked as a GS for the U.S. Navy.