Photo by Mass Communication Specialist Senior Chief Gary Ward
NORFOLK, Va. – A 2000 Western High School graduate and Las Vegas native is serving at Expeditionary Combat Camera, as a member of the Navy’s last Combat Camera Unit in Norfolk, Virginia.
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jonathan Eddy served as a gunner's mate. Eddy 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. Eddy’s most memorable combat camera mission was when he was able to go with a small team and document relief efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurrican Irma.
“Being able to help the people effected, and reach locations that people couldn't get to in order to get them supplies, food and water was incredible,” Eddy added.
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.
Eddy credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Las Vegas.
“I was in Junior Reserve Officer Training Command in high school and it set me up for being successful in the military,” Eddy 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.”
Eddy 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, Eddy and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving in the Navy means being a part of something bigger than myself," Eddy said. "Many times, people don’t realize the sacrifice that service members and their spouses make, especially when going on long deployments. These sacrifices I see sailors make gives me a great sense of pride.”