Rob Varela / Star staff Lt. Wade Whorton of Nipomo greets his 1-year-old son Rowan and his wife, Marika. The Seabees spent most of their deployment in Iraq's Anbar province. Whorton is holding his son Dillon, 3.

More than 50 Seabees stepped into the warm California sunshine at Naval Base Ventura County on Tuesday, happy to be back on U.S. soil after months of work in Iraq.

"Mission accomplished successfully," said a smiling Capt. Hans Probst as he stood on the tarmac at Naval Air Station Point Mugu after stepping off a passenger jet with some 55 other Seabees.

The Seabees, all members of the 30th Naval Construction Regiment, were in Anbar province, the largest Iraqi province, in the western part of the country.

Much of the resistance to U.S. troops has originated in Anbar province, but the level of violence there decreased noticeably during the six or so months that the Seabees were there.

"We built bridges, both literally and figuratively," Brad Thon, a Seabee commander, said of the many efforts by the Seabees and others to establish links with the Iraqis. Those links are leading to more cooperation between the Iraqis and U.S. troops, and as a result, he added, they've led to a decrease in violence in some parts of Iraq.

This was the first deployment of local Seabees to Iraq where no one was killed, said Shane Montgomery, a chief petty officer and spokesman for the Seabees.

"Not only was no one killed, there were also zero battle-related injuries," said Probst, a reserve officer from Louisville, Ky. In all, the Seabees were attacked five times, Probst said.

In addition to building bridges, the Seabees constructed buildings for the new Iraqi government and forward operational bases for the Marine Corps.

Marilyn West said she worried less about the safety of her Seabee son-in-law in Iraq, knowing he was being protected by the Marines.

"It made it easier knowing this," said the Long Beach woman, as she waited with her daughter, Jesse, for the aircraft to arrive at the base.

While in Iraq, the Seabees stayed in touch with their families via e-mail and telephone.

After leaving Iraq, the Seabees flew to a base in Kuwait, where they spent about five days. That gave them a chance to unwind away from the battlefield before flying back to the United States, Probst said.

From Kuwait, it was on to Germany, then Maine and California.

About 500 or so Seabees will go to Iraq at the end of the month, Montgomery said.