Pat Brannigan, product support manager for Precision Strike Weapons (PMA-201), earned the Navy’s 2020 PSM of the Year nod for ACAT II and below programs and will represent the department in the run for the Secretary of Defense 2020 Product Support Manager Awards.

Brannigan, a Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division employee aligned to the Sustainment Group, is a career Navy man, having enlisted in the Navy right out of high school. His family has a strong history of service; his father and brother retired from the Navy as command master chiefs. Brannigan’s wife served as an Army nurse for four years, and his extended family features service in every branch of the armed forces.

He completed more than 20 years of active duty Navy service, including multiple deployments to places like Keflavik, Iceland (which he describes as “beautiful yet extreme”); Sigonella, Sicily; Azores, Portugal; Rota, Spain, Puerto Rico; and Bermuda, and he even served as the only recruiter in a small town in Florida. Brannigan retired as an avionics master chief supporting the H-60 Program Office (PMA-299) in 2003. He worked as a contractor for a couple of months before re-joining federal service as a civilian, still supporting PMA-299.

Nearly 20 years later, he’s still supporting the naval warfighter.

“I still feel a strong connection to the fleet and want to ensure we develop and field systems that are as easy to support and maintain as possible,” Brannigan said. “It sounds like a line I’m forced to say, but after being in the fleet for 20-plus years, I worked on many older systems that made me question who designed them. I feel we can and should do better.”

That dedication to improvement is one of many factors that led to Brannigan’s selection. His nomination also credits his “demonstrated logistics expertise and unparalleled leadership” as being “instrumental in executing his overarching strategic logistics vision for a $14.9 billion portfolio of Acquisition Category (ACAT) and non-ACAT programs.”

Although Brannigan found it “humbling and a bit overwhelming” to be nominated, his co-workers and program manager seemed to see it as a matter of course. In a statement endorsing Brannigan to represent the Navy in the SECDEF award category, PMA-201 Program Manager Capt. John E. Dougherty IV wrote, “What's unique about Pat is his uncanny ability to balance the complexities of acquisitions logistics and sustainment … while mentoring numerous logisticians … with great pride and humility.”

Dave Rivera, assistant program manager for logistics for the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile program who has known Brannigan since 2007, said he was “not at all” surprised at Brannigan’s nomination, calling it a “no-brainer.”

“Pat is a humble man, a family man,” Rivera said. “He is a great leader and mentor and is someone you can trust to have your back. He cares about the warfighter, cares about his people and supports NAVAIRs mission. I proud to call him my friend.”

And suiting that “humble” description, Brannigan gives all credit to the team.

“The team of logisticians we have supporting the PMA are exceptional and they continually surprise me with the innovative solutions they come up with to resolve complex problems,” he said. “I’m truly the lucky one who gets to watch them work and help in any way I can. I can’t give enough credit to the team.”