The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers compound on Camp Victory, Iraq, has a new name. On Oct. 22, the compound was officially designated Camp Wolfe in honor of Navy Cmdr. Duane Wolfe.
An activated Navy reservist and civilian employee with Vandenberg Air Force Base, Wolfe was killed on May 25 when an improvised explosive device struck the vehicle he was riding in outside of Fallujah, Iraq. The explosion also killed Terry Barnich, deputy director of the U.S. State Department’s Iraqi Transition and Assistance Office, and Dr. Maged Hussin, director of the Office of Water Resources, Public Works, and the Environment at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
The ceremony was broadcast live via the internet to Wolfe’s family and friends in Los Osos.
A press release quoted Maj. General Michael R. Eyre, commanding general of the USACE Gulf Region Division, as saying at the ceremony that Cmdr. Wolfe was “a force for stability, hope, and trust among the Iraqi people. His death was a tremendous loss not only for Gulf Region Division, but also for the people he was so determined to assist.”
As the officer-in-charge of the Al-Anbar area office, Wolfe supervised 59 personnel, including U.S. military, government civilians, and local Iraqi nationals, according to information from the Army Corps. His staff was responsible for overseeing nearly $300 million in planned and ongoing construction projects, including the first ever wastewater treatment facility in Fallujah.
“Camp Wolfe is an enduring camp, charged to execute our reconstruction mission that Cmdr. Wolfe was such an integral part of,” Col. Dan Anninos, commander of the Gulf Region District, said in the release. “I recognize that this may be of little comfort to his wife Cindi and many others, but please know we will never forget as evident of today’s ceremony and that our grateful nation will also never forget as we honor those that have given their lives for our freedom.”
Wolfe’s widow, Cindi, was able to participate in the ceremony via the Internet.
“Much like so many of you here today, Cmdr. Wolfe was a builder of both roads and freedom; an engineer of bridges and peace; a man of faith and honor,” Cindi said in the release. “It was my great good fortune to have spent the past 34 years building a warm home and a loving family with this fine man.”
Cmdr. Wolfe was born in Canada and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1958. He attended Hueneme High School in Oxnard, and joined the U.S. Navy after graduating in 1972. He posthumously received multiple honorable awards for his service, including the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, and more. He is survived by his wife and children, Carrie, Katie, and Evan.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2009.