PORT HUENEME, Calif. - Naval Facilities and Engineering Command (NAVFAC) announced Lt. Cmdr. Michael Guzzi as the winner of the 2015 Moreell Medal, Feb. 16.
Guzzi, a native of Yuba City, California, is currently assigned as the future operations officer for the 30th Naval Construction Regiment (30 NCR) and Naval Construction Group (NCG) 1 stationed at Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, California.
In a message announcing the award, Rear Adm. Bret Muilenburg, commander, NAVFAC, wrote that Guzzi, “displayed superb engineering judgment, bold leadership and detailed planning efforts in directing 30 NCR and over 4,500 assigned U.S. Navy, Army and Air Force engineers to unprecedented operational success in the Pacific Theatre.”
The message further recognized Guzzi’s work in developing 48 construction projects across 18 different locations in the U.S. 7th and 3rd Fleet areas of operation, as well as his work as the operations officer for the Combined-Joint Civil-Military Operations Task Force during Balikatan 2015 in the Philippines.
“I am extremely humbled and proud of the award, mostly because it recognizes the hard work of the folks at 30 NCR, NCG 1 and across the Naval Construction Force,” said Guzzi. “I guess since they can't give the award to the entire force, I get to be the beneficiary of everyone's accomplishments.”
Guzzi enlisted in the Navy as an undesignated seaman in September 1994, serving three years aboard USS Thomas S. Gates (CG 51) in Norfolk, Virginia, and completing his enlisted service as a boatswain’s mate third class. Commissioned in 2002, his assignments have included Naval Base Ventura County Public Works Department, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 5, Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization Navy Center of Excellence, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest and NMCB 4.
“I love the Navy, the Seabees and the feeling of mission accomplishment,” said Guzzi. “There is no greater feeling professionally than being able to look in the mirror and know you gave everything you had to the task at hand and were ultimately successful.”
The Moreell Medal is given annually by the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) to recognize an active or reserve officer of the Navy Civil Engineer Corps, or a civilian employee of Naval Facilities and Engineering Command that has made outstanding contributions to military engineering.
The medal is named after Adm. Ben Moreell, chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Yards and Docks and the driving force in the creation of the Navy Seabees. Moreell served as president of SAME in 1941.
Commander, 30th NCR provides operational control over naval engineering forces throughout the Pacific, Southwest Asia and the western United States in response to combat commander and naval component commander requirements. They serve an integral part of the Naval Construction Force and accomplish major combat operations, theater security cooperation, humanitarian assistance, disaster recovery and Phase Zero requirements across the Pacific area of responsibility.