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By Rick Burke, Navy Office of Community Outreach
Photo by Mass Communication Specialist Senior Chief Gary Ward
NORFOLK, Va. – A 1991 Chester High School graduate and Chester, Pennsylvania, native is serving at Expeditionary Combat Camera, as a member of the Navy’s last Combat Camera Unit in Norfolk, Virginia.
Navy Chief Petty Officer Sam Shavers served as a mass communication specialist. Shavers 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.
Shavers’ most memorable combat camera missions were being deployed twice to Iraq and once in Afghanistan.
“Those deployments were most important because it was during the height of the war,” said Shaver. “The imagery captured was used for decision makers to make critical decisions regarding troop movement and placement. I was along the Tigris River where we found weapon caches and captured a few I.E.D makers.”
“Additionally, I took a team to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Irma,” Shavers added. “Our main missions were to clear routes to help the Army of Engineers and this was very crucial and vital for them to complete their missions. These sailors weren’t all mass communication specialists, but I helped them receive the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the highest they ever received.
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.
Shavers credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Chester.
"My hometown of Chester is basically a town founded by the Marines and the Navy, and they made anchors for Navy ships in WWII,” said Shavers. “The grit and survivability from the people here is something that I have carried with me and has helped me excel while serving in the Navy.”
Shavers has military ties with family members who have previously served and is honored to carry on the family tradition.
“My father and his father are both retired Navy,” Shavers said. “My grandfather on my mother’s side is retired Navy and I also have an uncle who retired from the Navy, as well as cousins.”
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.”
Shavers 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, Shavers and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“I have the distinct pleasure to be the last command duty officer here at this command and I was the last to salute at the disestablishment ceremony,” Shavers said. “It has been an amazing opportunity to see first-hand and pay homage and respect to those that served before us.”
Photo by Mass Communication Specialist Senior Chief Gary Ward
NORFOLK, Va. – A 1991 Chester High School graduate and Chester, Pennsylvania, native is serving at Expeditionary Combat Camera, as a member of the Navy’s last Combat Camera Unit in Norfolk, Virginia.
Navy Chief Petty Officer Sam Shavers served as a mass communication specialist. Shavers 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. Shavers’ most memorable combat camera missions were being deployed twice to Iraq and once in Afghanistan.
“Those deployments were most important because it was during the height of the war,” said Shaver. “The imagery captured was used for decision makers to make critical decisions regarding troop movement and placement. I was along the Tigris River where we found weapon caches and captured a few I.E.D makers.”
“Additionally, I took a team to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Irma,” Shavers added. “Our main missions were to clear routes to help the Army of Engineers and this was very crucial and vital for them to complete their missions. These sailors weren’t all mass communication specialists, but I helped them receive the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the highest they ever received.
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.
Shavers credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Chester.
"My hometown of Chester is basically a town founded by the Marines and the Navy, and they made anchors for Navy ships in WWII,” said Shavers. “The grit and survivability from the people here is something that I have carried with me and has helped me excel while serving in the Navy.”
Shavers has military ties with family members who have previously served and is honored to carry on the family tradition.
“My father and his father are both retired Navy,” Shavers said. “My grandfather on my mother’s side is retired Navy and I also have an uncle who retired from the Navy, as well as cousins.”
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.”
Shavers 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, Shavers and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“I have the distinct pleasure to be the last command duty officer here at this command and I was the last to salute at the disestablishment ceremony,” Shavers said. “It has been an amazing opportunity to see first-hand and pay homage and respect to those that served before us.”
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