Photo by Mass Communication Specialist Senior Chief Gary Ward
NORFOLK, Va. – A 2007 Booker T. Washington High School graduate and Atlanta native is serving at Expeditionary Combat Camera, as a member of the Navy’s last Combat Camera Unit in Norfolk, Virginia.
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Ridge Leoni served as a mass communication specialist. Leoni was part of a unique Navy team that operated from the air, land and sea to create multimedia products that recorded military events for operational commanders in support of combat, information, humanitarian, special force, intelligence, reconnaissance, engineering, legal, and public affairs missions. Leoni’s most memorable combat camera mission was participating in Continue Promise 2017, a humanitarian mission in Guatemala.
“Being in the country and experiencing first-hand what happened, made me learn a lot about taking things for granted,” Leoni added. “We were moving out of the country with extra supplies and we decided to donate to people around the area. It felt great to help those in need.”
Navy combat photography began its roots during World War I when the Navy organized its first photographic division to capture aerial reconnaissance photographs. During World War II, the Navy added Combat Photographic Units and sent them to the Pacific and European theaters of war to document major campaigns including Normandy and Iwo Jima.
After the onset of the Korean War, the Navy established the Pacific Fleet Combat Camera unit, and subsequently established the Atlantic Fleet Motion Picture Unit, which would become Atlantic Fleet Combat Camera Group in 1966 and deployed teams to document the war in Vietnam.
The unit became Expeditionary Combat Camera in 2010 and continued documenting all branches of the military during major U.S. conflicts, operations and exercises.
Leoni credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Atlanta.
“Growing up my parents instilled in me a great work ethic which I took with me into the Navy,” Leoni said. “I take this with me every day in the Navy and I never give up until the job is done.”
Leoni has military ties with family members who have previously served and is honored to carry on the family tradition.
“My uncle was a photographer in the Air Force during the Korean War and after I joined the Navy, I found out that I have the same job that he did,” Leoni said.
Members of Combat Camera perform unique and highly specialized missions with visual information documentation capabilities supporting all phases of a military operation. Personnel maintain qualifications enabling them to operate with air crew, special operations forces and military divers. Combat Camera teams have the technological capability to rapidly transmit imagery during fast-moving operations around the globe.
Expeditionary Combat Camera held a disestablishment ceremony Sept. 21 on Naval Station Norfolk. The ceremony honored the history, heritage and legacy of the command. Navy's combat camera units officially disestablish on Oct. 1, 2018, ending 67 years of service to the Navy and Department of Defense.
“All of those who have served at combat camera, have conveyed everything they’ve had to give; creative vision, a drive to excel, and a willingness to sacrifice,” said ECC’s final officer in charge Lt. Michael Larson, during the Norfolk ceremony. “Many have done the best work of their careers here, and that imagery has made a legacy that will live on, and inspires us to carry on.”
Leoni represents thousands of U.S. Navy combat photographers who have recorded historical events from the land, air and sea spanning from World War II to Operation Enduring Freedom.
As a member of the Navy’s last combat camera unit, Leoni and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“It’s a bittersweet moment,” Leoni said. “We are ending an era in a field that I feel is forever a legacy in the Navy.”