NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY PANAMA CITY — Four civilian employees at the Navy base have bagged medals for their efforts in the war on terrorism.
They received the Secretary of Defense Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) medals at a local ceremony earlier this week. All four work at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD), a tenant at the Navy base in Panama City Beach.
The recipients were Richard Brown of Panama City Beach, Bradley Collie of Fresno, Calif., Mike Cox of Santa Rosa Beach and Thomas English, from Fairview Park, Ohio. All four did time in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2010 and 2012.
“It’s fairly rare, especially for a civilian,” said Dan Broadstreet, NSWC PCD spokesman. “For us to have four (medal recipients) in one command, we’re extremely proud of these individuals.”
The honor is given out for “exemplary” work, Broadstreet said.
Cox, 55, spent from November 2010 to October 2011 in Al Kut, Iraq, at the Contingency Operating Base Delta through the civilian expeditionary workforce program run by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Cox said he was there to help with the military drawdown in Iraq.
“Our primary job was to assist the command with the planning and transition of the base that we were at to the government of Iraq,” Cox said. “This was a transition process.”
Cox was the base’s director of public works, but his primary job was to help commanders and assist in planning the transition, he said.
The goal was to make sure the bases were in “appropriate order” and environmental conditions were being kept up to the best extent possible, Cox said.
Things were tough. Nine soldiers were killed while he was there and living conditions were difficult.
“Conditions were fairly austere, but they were certainly better at our base than they were at some others. … Depending on where you are, you might be in a tent or you could be in what they call a containerized housing unit,” he said.
The housing units looked like a metal mobile home that could fit on the back of a semitrailer.
Still, Cox was pleased he had the chance to help.
“I was honored to be there,” he said. “This was all about supporting our troops, helping them to the extent we can, helping them come home.”
The other three award winners were not immediately available for comment, but NSWC PCD released a statement about their exploits.
Brown went to Afghanistan in 2012 and was stationed at a forward operating base there. Between August and November 2012, Collie gave metal detector training program for more than 400 military personnel. And between August 2010 and September 2011 English was at the U.S. Air Force headquarters in Afghanistan as a theater systems safety manager.