Courtesy Photo | Kerry Shanaghan speaks to a crowd during a Darius Rucker concert event July 4, 2015...... read more read more
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Kerry Shanaghan has served Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola since the late 1990s, first as the executive officer of the installation, and then as the Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) and Child and Youth Programs (CYP) director. Shanaghan, known as “Shans” here, retired at the end of December after a successful and distinguished career with the U.S. Navy and MWR.
“I was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, but my dad was a naval aviator so we moved all over the place,” Shanaghan said. “I never really called any place home until we moved (to Pensacola) and I've been here since 1998. So this is the longest I've ever lived in one place.”
Shanaghan began his naval career at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
“I went to the Naval Academy — I was in the class of 1979,” he said. “Yes, it was a long time ago.”
Shanaghan was a naval aviator and flew A-6 Intruders for most of his career, primarily stationed on NAS Oceana. He served on seven deployments on various aircraft carriers to include the USS Independence (CV-62), USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and USS Saratoga (CV-60).
“I was in Grenada and Lebanon for the things that took place there in 1983 onboard the USS Independence,” he said.
During his career as a naval aviator, he also served as a landing signal officer (LSO) on aircraft carriers. He was a landing signal officer onboard USS Theodore Roosevelt for its initial cruise with Carrier Air Wing Eight.
"Being an LSO was very fulfilling because you're the last thing between someone hitting the deck wrong or crashing on the back end of the ship,” he said. “You're out there in all sorts of weather conditions.”
There were several pilots who came up to me and thanked me for bringing them on board on a particularly scary night when they were junior officers, he said. It was a tough job, but it was fulfilling.
He was the chief test director with Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine (VX-9) at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and was also stationed in Japan for several years.
I did a lot of test and evaluation work when I was chief test director, he said.
“We developed software and new weapon systems for the aircraft assigned out there, which included A-6s, F-18s, Harriers and Cobras for the Marine Corps,” he explained.
Shanaghan came to NAS Pensacola as the executive officer in 1998, retired in 2002 and was in the Navy for a total of 23 years.
Following his retirement from the Navy, Shanaghan was asked to fill the vacant MWR regional director position on NAS Pensacola. At the time, he was in charge of MWR activities on NAS Pensacola and NAS Whiting Field.
Shanaghan said a lot has changed since he accepted the job as MWR director nearly 20 years ago — the region’s structure was modified, however, the MWR mission remained on NAS Pensacola and continued to grow.
As MWR director, Shanaghan made single service members and families onboard NAS Pensacola a priority, and his goal was to always provide the absolute best programs and services for MWR and CYP patrons.
While Shanaghan was MWR director, the department provided NAS Pensacola personnel with a myriad of activities and programs — all evolving and changing throughout the year to accommodate the turnover of personnel here.
The MWR team operates the A.C. Read Golf Course, two marinas, a movie theater, bowling alley, library, a modern liberty center for students and unaccompanied personnel, multiple fitness centers with the latest equipment and classes, outdoor recreation areas and campgrounds — just to list a few.
Shanaghan is particularly proud of the special events MWR has provided to the NAS Pensacola community over the years.
“We've done a lot of high-end entertainment, particularly in the concert world, up through 2019,” he said. “Probably the most fun I had was the Independence Day concert in 2015 with Darius Rucker. We must have had 15 to 20,000 people — it was free. Everybody came from all around — we had a big fireworks display that night.”
In Shanaghan’s time here, MWR coordinated visits by celebrities like University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban and NASCAR Cup Champion Kyle Busch. MWR coordinated Family Luau events, winter sledding with artificial snow, U.S. Navy Blue Angels Homecoming Airshow activities, and even therapy pig visits to NAS Pensacola.
Over the course of 20 years, several major hurricanes hit the southeast region, and MWR was ready to serve following disaster. Shanaghan said Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and a major storm near Naval Station Guantanamo Bay forced evacuations of military personnel and civilians to NAS Pensacola. For several weeks in the wake of both storms, MWR was responsible for providing entertainment and programs for evacuees who were displaced due to the devastating weather.
After Hurricane Katrina the MWR staff, along with Fleet and Family and some other folks, put together a program to entertain the evacuees every day for two months, he said.
Shanaghan’s team has earned multiple awards under his leadership, including 5-Star Accreditations from the Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) MWR Accreditation Program.
“We were the first base to be accredited as a 5-Star, and we've been a 5-Star base every year,” he said. “We also won the National Recreation and Parks Association Gold Medal Award, which is presented to the best of the DoD bases worldwide.”
NAS Pensacola’s campground was also voted best Military RV park in the southeast.
“I'm proud of everything that we have done here at MWR,” he said.
There has been hitches and glitches along the way, just like with anything else, he said. But the people that are in place right now are working harder than ever because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We're trying to figure out programming in an ever-changing environment.
“Working with 'Shans' was a unique learning experience,” said Jack Reed, NAS Pensacola MWR Operations. “He always ensured our patrons experienced the best of what MWR offered. During his almost 20 years at MWR, we achieved many accolades, which was a reflection of his leadership and allowing us to implement new ideas.”
Shanaghan said he doesn’t have any big plans following retirement, but plans to stay active in the community and referee youth soccer. He also said he plans to support his wife while she returns to college to study nursing and social work.
“My wife was a Navy nurse, I was a Navy pilot,” he said. “She has a wonderful heart for those types of things, and she supported me all during this time.”
| Date Taken: | 01.21.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 01.21.2022 12:08 |
| Story ID: | 413217 |
| Location: | PENSACOLA, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 553 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, NAS Pensacola Morale, Welfare and Recreation Director Retires After Decades of Service, by Joshua Cox, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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