By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Melanie Perez, Navy Office of Community Outreach
MILLINGTON, Tenn. — Petty Officer 3rd Class Joshua Phillips, a native of Escondido, California, recently received his Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals (NAM) while serving Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Camp Pendleton, California.
Phillips has received this third NAM, which is awarded to sailors for outstanding service or achievement—combat or noncombat—based on sustained performance or a specific accomplishment.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those of his parents’ hard work and dedication.
“My dad taught me how to work hard and push through any obstacle to reach my goals,” Phillips said. “My mom raised me to not only achieve dreams for myself, but to bring others up with me.”
Phillips graduated from Escondido Adult School in 2021 and has served in the Navy for three years.
“I joined the Navy to carry on my family legacy,” Phillips said. “I am a third-generation sailor proudly upholding high standards and valuing the same naval traditions as every son did in my family.”
Today, Phillips serves as a hospital corpsman with Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) 150 Alpha, a subordinate unit of NMRTC Camp Pendleton, which carries out its mission to maximize warfighter performance and enhance the readiness of the medical force.
EMF 150 Alpha is comprised of more than 400 personnel, including medical providers, security managers and food service personnel. The command essentially functions as a role 3 hospital, designed to provide in-theater hospitalization with up to 150 beds and able to perform similar health care facility functions wherever EMF 150 Alpha is set up.
NMRTC Camp Pendleton is comprised predominantly of military members who support Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton. The command supports overall Navy and Marine Corps readiness by training military command members to ensure they are ready to deploy and provide medical support to various operational Navy and Marine units deployed, ashore or at sea.
Navy Medicine – represented by more than 44,000 highly-trained military and civilian health care professionals – provides enduring expeditionary medical support to the warfighter on, below, and above the sea, and ashore.
This year, the Navy is commemorating its contribution to the nation’s defense as the United States celebrates 250 years of independence.
According to Navy officials, for more than 250 years, the Navy has sailed the globe defending freedom and protecting prosperity.
With 90% of global commerce traveling by sea and access to the internet relying on the security of undersea fiber optic cables, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity of the United States is directly linked to recruiting and retaining talented people from across the rich fabric of America.
Phillips has had many opportunities to achieve success while serving in the military.
“My proudest accomplishment in the Navy so far is the establishment of the Burpee Clinic, and inviting sailors from my command to improve themselves physically and mentally,” Phillips said.
Phillips serves a Navy that operates far forward, around the world and around the clock, promoting the nation’s prosperity and security.
“Serving in the Navy means selflessness,” Phillips said. “This is a trait that is developed over time, especially as a corpsman. The quality of life for my brothers and sisters is what matters most to me. I am able to teach and mentor my peers on lessons I have learned in life because I am much older than them.”
Phillips is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“My wife, Leticia Phillips, deserves the biggest thanks for being a rockstar military spouse who has dealt with the troubles with me while balancing home and family, making my life easier than it should be,” Phillips said.
More information is available here: https://www.navy.mil/navy-250/