This year, Mr. John Prue will be completing 39 years (and his final year) of service supporting Department of Defense quality of life services, and specifically Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) for the U.S. Navy. He serves as the MWR Program Analyst for Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, where he performs analytical duties to assess the overall effectiveness of MWR programs across twenty-three installations and annex sites within a nine-state area, supporting a $125M annual budget. He dedicated a sizable portion of his career as the Installation Program Director for the MWR Department at Naval Station Great Lakes, IL. In this role, he led a team of over three hundred individuals and managed more than twenty facilities and programs, including recreational venues such as a golf course, marina, bowling center, movie theater, ticket/travel office and community recreation centers. His oversight extended to sports/fitness and aquatic facilities, community special events, parks and green spaces, child and youth services, lodging/hospitality programs, entertainment clubs/restaurants, and other revenue generating business ventures. In 2012, his MWR team was the first military base to receive the distinguished National Gold Medal Award in the Armed Forces Recreation category. As an elected member of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration since 2018, John has served on numerous committees including chair of the Gold Medal Award Committee in 2022/23. John also has been actively involved with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) for over 30 years. His contributions include network leadership, conference presentations, article submissions, chairing and serving on the conference program committee and since 2022, serving on the NRPA Board of Directors.
*As John officially retires from the DoD at the end of this year, he is already moving forward with other work opportunities within the field of parks & recreation and related industries.