 United States Navy combat photographers have been involved in every major American conflict since the First World War Embedding with every military service branch to document what was happening on the ground in the air and under the sea Combat camera was born out of World War II. So I was in in 1942 The Navy created the first nine combat photographic units CPUs about four to six people they deployed To the Pacific and European theaters of war even in it's in North Africa, and it was it was those teams that Created almost 80% of the Navy's publicly released imagery from all of World War II Later on while it was going in them at the end of the war We had all kinds of photographers out there in Okinawa There were only ten of us that covered the world in the beginning The Korean conflict underscored the Navy's need for a photographic unit able to deploy at a moment's notice Making them an asset to combatant commanders during the Vietnam War And it wasn't till the onset of the Korean War roughly around 1951 that the Pacific fleet established their first real combat camera group after the Korean War we became on the East Coast here Mobile photographic units, and it wasn't till the US entered the war in Vietnam, and it was in 1966 that We became Atlantic Fleet combat camera And we have documented every major US involved conflict ever since Throughout the 1970s and 80s combat cameras deployment pace remained high documenting conflicts and military exercises around the world But after September 11th, 2001 the United States became involved in Afghanistan in Iraq And the need for timely visual information was again at an all-time high Hearing the radio, you know saying that we are now in DEF CON 3. Yeah, I got to get back to the command So I'm sending everybody out the door You know, I'm getting guys going to New York. I got shooters going on the ships Then a few days later. I was on to the Roosevelt and we were Heading for the Indian Ocean None of us will ever forget this day Yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world Thank you. Good night, and God bless America I literally went into Iraq within one or two months of getting the combat camera Navy combat camera is the only combat camera that was allowed to jointly work with the Special operation forces. I mean, this is where combat photographers separate themselves from other Navy sailors because it takes a Unique individual to be able to handle those type stressors knowing how to To keep your mind straight while you have nothing but stressors all day long And you never know when you might die or you may get in fire I mean which happens and it happens what happened a lot for me It's going out a lot of it ultimately to the front line somewhere and you know You're putting your life on the line You know for this job, you know, and you know for some of us it you know some of us love that thrill of that or some You know truly believe in the power of you know their job in providing imagery that can do so many things As operations in the Middle East wound down Combat cameras all shift in missions from wartime documentation to training a sustainment Sailors routinely deployed in support of various commands to tell their stories all over the world I Got to combat camera during a transitional period as the US started dial back its involvement in the Middle East We had to switch gears and refocus our main priorities We still conducts a statement in case that task ever does arrive where we might need to go back into Combat We've also started to focus more on humanitarian missions and also doing training exercises and just working a lot more with other allied We have combat cameraman all over the world at any given time We've had guys diving in the Arabian Gulf in 110 degree weather and at the same time We had guys up in the Arctic Circle in negative 30 With our capabilities is nowhere that we can't go Most jobs around the fleet, you know people are kind of stuck in their corner of the Navy But one of the side effects of having the broad spectrum of capabilities that we have is we get sent everywhere You really get to see all the different communities and all the different cultures within the Navy and in all those experiences that I had I got to meet great people and Now I have memories that I'll never forget So although Navy combat camera is disestablishing the combat camera men and women Have left a lasting legacy a 70 plus year legacy Which can be seen today and can be seen tomorrow through their iconic imagery This unit is not just a command. It's a fraternity. It's a family. It's a family that has Gone through wars together. It's gone literally gone to the ends of the earth to tell the Navy story And I think given the choice we would do it all over again