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Troy Kelley, then-mission readiness Director at Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport, was honored with the Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award April 24. The award was in recognition of his exceptional leadership and impact on the command from October 2023 to March 2025.
The award nomination praised Kelley's pivotal role in transforming the command's culture to prioritize wartime readiness: “Mr. Kelley embraced the herculean task of evaluating the entirety of Keyport’s approach to its mission areas to determine the command’s readiness for wartime and how to improve it quickly," it stated.
One of Kelley’s key contributions was establishing and leading the NUWC Division, Keyport Wartime Readiness Action Team in response to rising global threats. The team was made up of senior leaders and technical experts from across the command and was tasked with ensuring Keyport’s ability to anticipate and meet warfighter needs across the full spectrum of operations, from peacetime to conflict. Under Kelley’s direction, the WRAT developed tools such as a readiness assessment rubric and a conflict spectrum framework, identified operational gaps and conducted wartime readiness drills.
Kelley’s efforts drove improvements across multiple areas, including workforce threat briefings; business operations such as finance, HR and procurement; and the establishment of Keyport’s first Crisis Response Center. Regarding the CRC, the nomination stated, “Mr. Kelley’s vision resulted in the creation of this brand-new capability that allowed the Commanding Officer and Technical Director to immediately engage the entire workforce to support NAVSEA priorities in a ‘conflict is happening’ environment.” The center proved its value during the 2024 Naval Sea Systems Command readiness exercise and now hosts regular drills to sharpen the command’s communication and response strategies.
Kelley also spearheaded the development of a Warfare Centers Forward Operating Site capability, aimed at providing a forward presence in the Pacific to better support fleet objectives. He collaborated with other Warfare Centers Divisions and met with fleet experts to ensure alignment with fleet objectives.
“[Kelley’s] foresight, organizational prowess, knowledge of Keyport, NAVSEA, and the workforce were crucial to the now ubiquitous readiness posture that Keyport possesses,” stated the nomination.
Congratulations, Mr. Kelley!
-KPT-
Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport is headquartered in the state of Washington on the Puget Sound, about 10 miles west of Seattle. To provide ready support to Fleet operational forces at all major Navy homeports in the Pacific, NUWC Division, Keyport maintains detachments in San Diego, California and Honolulu, Hawaii, and remote operating sites in Guam; Japan; Hawthorne, Nevada; and Portsmouth, Virginia. At NUWC Division, Keyport, our diverse and highly skilled team of engineers, scientists, technicians, administrative professionals and industrial craftsmen work tirelessly to develop, maintain and sustain undersea warfare superiority for the United States.
| Date Taken: | 05.08.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2025 12:31 |
| Story ID: | 497403 |
| Location: | KEYPORT, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 64 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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