Photo by Mass Communication Specialist Senior Chief Gary Ward
NORFOLK, Va. – A 2001 Tallwood High School graduate and Virginia Beach, Virginia, 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 Patrisha Wyatt served as an information systems technician. “I worked on computers, networks, and communication gears and circuits for the command,” Wyatt said.
Wyatt’s most memorable combat camera mission was making sure her people were ready-deployed to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and Irma.
“I made sure that the personnel going to Puerto Rico had updated laptops and active satellite communications,” Wyatt added. “It was my first mission where I truly felt my work was making a difference.”
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.
Wyatt credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Virginia Beach.
“I learned that no matter what anyone says, I can do anything I put my mind to and preserver,” Wyatt said. “My whole life people have said that I couldn’t accomplishment my goals, and I am proud that I proved them wrong.”
Wyatt has military ties with family members who have previously served and is honored to carry on the family tradition.
“Many members of my family served in the Navy,” said Wyatt. “My great-grandfather on my mother's side was in the Army in WWII. My great-grandfather on my father's side and dad all served in the Navy. I'm fourth generation Navy.”
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.”
Wyatt 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, Wyatt and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“Filling a vital role in the Navy has filled me with pride and it's sad to see combat command disestablish as it played an important part of documenting the Navy's legacy,” Wyatt added.