Photo By Troy Miller | (From Left to Right) Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s Business and Strategic Planning Office...... read more read more
When Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) Business and Strategic Planner Officer (Code 1200) Cmdr. Brian Banazwski joined the Boy Scouts of America as a Tiger in the Cub Scout program at eight-years-old, he took an oath.
“On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.”
“I didn’t know when I first joined Cub Scouts that I also started preparing myself for my career in the U.S. Navy,” said Banazwski. “The Scout Law describes the values that every Scout should follow to become an upstanding member of their community. The Scout Law is entirely focused on outlining positive behaviors that a Scout should strive to exhibit, encompassing values like trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness, courtesy, kindness, obedience, cheerfulness, thriftiness, bravery, cleanliness, and reverence; acting with integrity and respect in all situations.”
Banazwski eventually ended up becoming an Eagle Scout. An Eagle Scout is the highest rank a Boy Scout can earn in the Scouting America program, a symbol of a Scout's leadership skills, community service, and character development.
For his Eagle Scout community service project, Banazwski created shelving units for a local pantry helping to keep the food fresher for longer. This project required drawing up plans, attaining needed tools, finding volunteers, and executing the project to deliver a high quality product.
“I was leading a team of approximately 30 members consisting of Scouts and adults alike,” said Banazwski. “Here I am 28 years later, using leadership lessons that I learned through Boy Scouts to lead the Code 1200 team consisting of approximately 85 personnel.”
Hailing from Medina, New York, Banazwski attended Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rochester, New York, and earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
“A month before graduation, I realized that I was graduating and I did not have any job prospects lined up,” said Banazwski. “Fortunately, RIT had one last job fair for that season and I went to it.”
Banazwski continued, “I went to the Navy table and handed my resume to the chief warrant officer who was manning the table. He took one look at my resume and he smiled and said, ‘sir, I’ve got a special job for you.’ That's how I eventually became an instructor at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command in Charleston, South Carolina.”
After serving there for about four-and-a-half years, Banazwski laterally transferred to the Engineering Duty Officer (EDO) community. He earned his Master’s Degree in mechanical engineering at the Navy Postgraduate School, Monterey, California and completed his Engineering Duty Officer Qualification Program (EDQP) at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY). After NNSY, Banazwski completed tours at Fleet Forces Command, working for the Director, Fleet Maintenance Office (N43); Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as deputy project superintendent; and the USS Frank Cable (AS 40) as the repair officer before returning to NNSY as the Business and Strategic Planning Officer.
“Coming back here to NNSY, it's like coming home from my qualification tour to become a department head,” said Banazwski. “This is where I'm trying to become a captain, do my department head tour, and then eventually, if the stars align, to maybe be a shipyard commander someday.”
The Business and Strategic Planning Office can be considered the front door of the shipyard, where all business comes in officially through Code 1200. This includes the Availability Work Packages for Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) availabilities, Intermediate level work at Naval Station Norfolk and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, and various other work done for shipyard stakeholders. This allows the shipyard to have a formal, contract-like relationship with its customers so that each party clearly understands what the expectations are in timeliness, costs and details of the work. The business office follows up with the customers during the work and once it is completed to ensure customer satisfaction.
Banazwski said he is committed “to make Code 1200 the best it can be; I bring the hard work and determination ethic with me. I'll be the first in, last out. I want to make sure that we hold to the deadlines, to hold to the commitments that we make that we say we're going to get something done, I will make sure that I hold up my end of making sure it gets done. Just hard work, dedication, and helping each other out to achieve a common goal.”
During his off hours, Banazwski enjoys cooking and spending time with the family and being actively involved as father to a Cub Scout Tiger and a Cub Scout Wolf.
“I'm going to push my sons to become Eagle Scouts because the program itself is very remarkable,” said Banazwski. “Again, the character development, the leadership, the confidence that it builds, sets you up for taking care of yourself in life, regardless of whether you enter the military or not. It’s the traits and skill-set one needs to become better self-sufficient later in life.”
Although it’s unknown at this time what Banazwski’s sons will do with their lives after Boy Scouts, there is always the option to continue to be like their father and take the Oath for Office for Naval Officers.
| Date Taken: | 03.12.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.12.2025 12:06 |
| Story ID: | 492592 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: | MEDINA, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 174 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, From the Scout Oath to the Officer’s Oath: Cmdr. Brian Banazwski becomes Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s Business and Strategic Planning Officer, by Troy Miller, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
