Biography of
Keith Wigger

Candidate, Camden County Board of Commissioners (District 3)

Born February 20, 1965 in Alton, Illinois, Keith was raised in Alton, Cypress, Texas and Negreet, Louisiana where he graduated in 1983 from Negreet High School.

Keith’s wanderlust and lifelong desire to serve in the military led him to the Navy recruiter office. After initial screening, and acceptance, he was sent to Basic Training in Orlando, Florida. Graduating in February of 1983, he proceeded to Meridian, Mississippi for follow-on training in the storekeeper rating.

After Storekeeper “A” School, Keith received orders to the USS Proteus, in Guam, Marianas Islands. Assigned to the stores division, his eagerness and enthusiasm was recognized early on and he was assigned the demanding responsibility of managing critical submarine parts storerooms and supervising the pier-side shipping and receiving warehouse. Due to his diligence and management abilities Keith was meritoriously promoted to Petty Officer Third class (E-4) within months of reporting on board. After his promotion Keith was assigned as logistics support for the Proteus’ “tiger team” which was frequently called on short notice to remote sites external of normal support. Keith’s abilities as a contractor and negotiator were realized when tasked by the officer-in-charge to procure everything from lodging and accommodations to specialized parts and equipment. With a very limited budget he adapted quickly to diverse and problematic situations implementing solutions to provide support for the critical and timely repair of submarines.

In December of 1985 and remaining on Guam, Keith was transferred to the U. S. Naval Facility. He had advanced to Petty Officer Second Class (E-5) and was assigned as the contracting officer for the facility. Additionally, he volunteered for the base security detail. Due to a relationship with Commissioner David Blas of the nearby village of Yigo, Keith encouraged many of his “shipmates” to volunteer their off-duty time engaging in various civic and social activities with the villagers. Each person committed an extraordinary amount of time to the village fostering goodwill between the service-members and local citizens. Following suit many other commands instituted similar associations with villages culminating in an island-wide Sister Village program. Keith received many military and civilian citations for spearheading this program and in recognition of his efforts was inducted into the “Ancient Order of the Chammori” by the Governor of Guam. This distinction is most often reserved for dignitaries, senior military officers and distinguished visitors to the island, making Keith one of the few enlisted military members of the order and the youngest (age 21) to be recognized.

Keith re-enlisted in December of 1987 and returned back stateside once again to Meridian, this time as an instructor. He continued volunteering his time to many organizations including the Non-commissioned Officers Association (NCOA) and the Fleet Reserve Association (FRA). He participated annually with the Meridian Crawfish Festival and The Great Chunky River Raft race benefiting local charities. At the base he volunteered as an auxiliary security officer, Little League coach and umpire and hosted many foreign military exchange students, from the countries of Singapore, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. His duties as an instructor gave him the opportunity to supervise the military and specialty training of 900 entry-level navy personnel. Additionally he completed the rigorous course of study and qualification leading to designation as a Master Training Specialist.

In July of 1991, Keith reported to Basic Enlisted Submarine School in New London, Connecticut and upon completion was assigned to the USS Topeka in San Diego, California. He found this assignment to be the most challenging and rewarding of his career. During his first year on board, Topeka logged over 300 days at sea giving Keith the opportunity to achieve the two greatest milestones of his career, qualification in submarines and advancement to Chief Petty Officer (E-7). Because of his Gulf War service Keith had earned the right to join the Veterans of Foreign Wars as a life member of Post 1512 in Spring Valley, CA. Although his sea service duties precluded holding an office in the post, Keith volunteered many hours in support of various community projects sponsored by the VFW.

Due to Keith’s direct involvement in the many successes and awards of Topeka, Keith was specifically requested to report to the Commander Submarine Squadron Eleven in San Diego in July of 1994. His duties at the Squadron included monitoring the supply department operations of thirteen fast-attack nuclear submarines and the administration and disbursement of a $200 million annual budget. Halfway through his tour, Keith volunteered to take a “temporary” assignment to the USS Asheville due to the unexpected loss of the ship’s supply officer and leading storekeeper. Assuming this would be a short-term assignment Keith maintained his duties at the squadron when the ship was in port. Due to detailing difficulties (read: nobody wanted the job), Keith was finally relieved of this assignment after a full year and returned full-time to Squadron Eleven. To the surprise of the detailer, who was prepared to give him any assignment he asked for, Keith asked for orders to the USS Salt Lake City. Due to Keith’s willingness to take on new challenges he opted for a difficult assignment, (Salt Lake City had been plagued with difficulties over the last several years) instead of the easier assignment to a more “squared away” submarine.

Reporting to the Salt Lake City in September of 1997, Keith set into action his plan for making the supply department a more streamlined and efficient operation. The most immediate challenge arose from the ship’s lack of tools and repair parts available to satisfactorily maintain material condition. Keith’s previous budgeting experience indicated that no extra money could be made available for purchasing materials and additionally the Navy had significantly reduced the funds previously available. Knowing that many 688-class submarines were in the various stages of decommissioning it was there in he discovered a treasure trove of material at hand to be refurbished or reutilized at little or no cost for the benefit of the ship and crew. Utilizing these resources the Salt Lake City’s expenditures for materials in Keith’s first year on board were less than $300,000 compared to the squadron average of over $1 million per submarine. As a result of this program the ship was able to improve it’s material condition in record time and was a major factor in the ship’s many awards and performance accolades over the next several years.

In June of 2000, Keith called in his marker on the detailer, asking for orders to the premier duty station in the Navy, Subase Kings Bay. He found his duties at Submarine Squadron Twenty to be similar to those at Squadron Eleven in San Diego with the exception of seemingly endless resources in support of the Trident Submarine program. After about six months at Kings Bay the budgetary woes that had been prevalent throughout the rest of the Navy began to appear. Keith tapped back into his network of resources and implemented a reuse program for the Squadron Twenty units by screening each submarine’s requirements against databases of excess tools, parts and equipment warehoused by various military activities around the world. Although these programs were not new to the Navy, neither were they widely utilized. Keith recognized significant savings in using these resources and developed a method of screening requirements that saved hundreds of thousand of dollars throughout his tour at the squadron.

After almost twenty years of service and unwavering support from his family, Keith made the difficult decision to retire from the Navy. Although proud of his service and accomplishments he realized that his three older children were almost grown and he had sadly missed much of their lives due to his frequent deployments (due to circumstances beyond his control he had not even been present at their births). He was determined that he would not miss a single moment of his two younger children’s lives (due to shore duty he was present at their births). Keith retired from active duty on December 31, 2002. His military awards include the Navy Commendation Medal, 2 awards, Navy Achievement Medal, 4 awards, Navy Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Medal, 2 awards, Kuwaiti Liberation Medal and the Southeast Asia Service Medal.

Keith currently runs a Life Insurance Company of Georgia Agency (member of the ING Financial Services Group) serving southeast Georgia and northeast Florida. He has brought to Life of Georgia the same drive and determination that prevailed through his years of military service. Due to his unique customer service and marketing abilities coupled with foresight and planning, Keith has brought his company to the forefront in insurance services throughout Camden County and the surrounding area. Keith is active with the Rotary Club of Camden County of which he joined in February of 2003 and this year was selected as Rotarian of the year. He is a member of the Camden County Chamber of Commerce and a contributor to “Wings over Camden” benefiting the United Way. Keith, his wife Angela (a conference sales manager at Amelia Island Plantation) and their five children Kristy (20), Keegan (17), Kyle (12), Korey (3) and Kelsey (2) reside in Elliott’s Plantation where they have lived since August of 2000.