John D. Prue is currently the Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) Program Analyst for Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, providing analytical and evaluative duties to assess the overall effectiveness of MWR programs at 14 naval installations across a 9 state area.
Previously, Mr. Prue served a number of years as the Installation Program Director, MWR Department at Naval Station Great Lakes. As the chief administrator for the Commanding Officer, he assured a comprehensive quality of life program for over 25,000 Navy personnel, their family members, retirees and other eligible patrons. With more than 20 different facilities and programs, they include general recreation, sports & fitness, community activities, child and youth services, lodging/hospitality program, entertainment clubs, restaurants, and other revenue producing business activities. This also includes planning and organization of an internationally recognized open-to-the-public “4th of July Celebration” which draws more than 30,000 attendees during this annual multi-day event. In 2012, his MWR Team won the coveted National Gold Medal Award, being the first ever Military Installation to win this award. His MWR team constantly held the Commander Navy Installations Command (CNIC) 5-Star Accreditation which exemplify the highest standards of MWR operations and management. As the MWR Director, Mr. Prue also spearheaded a $14M non-appropriated fund construction project from inception to completion This multipurpose entertainment complex supports the entire Great Lakes community, complete with a twenty-eight lane bowling center, movie theater, restaurant, sports bar and live entertainment area.
He started his career with MWR as a college intern at Naval Station Great Lakes in 1986 and was quickly promoted into a management position upon graduation. He served as the Recreation Division Director from 1991 to 2007 and then was promoted to the MWR Director position, at that time. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Recreation Administration from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a Master's Degree in Management from Webster University, St. Louis, MO.
Mr. Prue has received numerous individual awards to date, to include the Department of the Navy’s Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 2020 and in 2003 for his outstanding contributions to the Navy mission. In addition, he received the Armed Forces Recreation Society (AFRS) "Fellow" Award in 1993 and the “Executive Fellow” Award in 2008, for his achievements in improving the quality of life for active duty personnel and their family members. Upon his retirement from the MWR Director position, he received the Navy MWR Lifetime Achievement Award for his 34 years of services at Naval Station Great Lakes and to the overall Navy MWR mission.
Mr. Prue was a member the NRPA Conference Program Committee for a number of years, and served as the Chairperson in 2020, helping to advance the knowledge of the Parks & Recreation profession through the educational sessions offered at the annual conference. His involvement with NRPA goes back many years serving on the Armed Forces Recreation Society/Network leadership group in various capacities and from 2009-2014 serving as the U.S. Navy representative. He has been an NRPA conference speaker numerous times and authored a number of articles including the feature article in the November 2017 edition of Parks & Recreation Magazine on the Department of Defense (DoD) Warrior Games. As a special assistant to the 2017 DoD Warrior Games, he helped in the coordination, planning and sponsorship for a 9-day Paralympic-style adaptive sports competitions in the City of Chicago. [current as of January 2022]