Public Works Officer retires with 25 years Navy service
Bravo Zulu
Cmdr. Kevin Norton retired from the U.S. Navy during a traditional ceremony held Aug. 10.
Most recently, he served as the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi public works officer.
Norton was born in San Antonio and raised as a U.S. Army “brat” in California, Arizona, Korea and Colorado.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1989, and was selected for the Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training Program. Following completion of the BOOST program, he attended the University of Colorado on a Navy ROTC scholarship, graduating in December 1994, with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering and was commissioned as an ensign.
Norton’s first assignment was strike warfare officer on board USS David R. Ray (DD 971). He completed a deployment to the Arabian Gulf in 1997, and then transferred to USS Ford (FFG 54), as the auxiliaries officer, where he made a second deployment to the Arabian Gulf.
Norton attended Naval Postgraduate School from 1999 to 2001, and received a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He laterally transferred to the Civil Engineer Corps while at the postgraduate school.
In January 2002, Norton began his first CEC assignment as a facilities engineer at the Public Works Department in Yokosuka, Japan. He volunteered for an Individual Augment assignment to Iraq from March to September 2004, serving with the Coalition Provisional Authority as a technical advisor to the Iraq Ministry of Water Resources and the newly established Ministry of Environment. Norton was the sole military member assigned to these two advisory offices and was also responsible for mentoring the headquarters elements of the Facilities Protection Service at each ministry, helping them to establish physical security, administrative and training programs for the FPS guards.
Norton’s next assignment was as resident officer in charge of construction at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center 29 Palms, California, from October 2004 to August 2007.
He then served as the first military public works officer in almost two decades at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, California, before transferring to Camp Smith, Hawaii, in July 2010, as the director of facilities and infrastructure support branch at U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific.
Norton then assumed duty as public works officer at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, from August 2013 to May 2016, before reporting in May 2016 to his current position as public works officer, NAS Corpus Christi.
Norton is qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer and is a registered civil engineer in the state of California. He is a member of the DoD Acquisition Professional Community and his personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal and Navy Achievement Medal.
Norton and his family will remain in Corpus Christi and he will continue to work in the public works field for the city of Corpus Christi.
Fair Winds and Following Seas!