Patuxent River, MD — Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Robert Scott Elder received a Purple Heart from Rear Adm. Dean Peters, commander, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, Dec. 11.
While serving with the combined anti-armor team platoon, 3rd Battalion 6th Marines, Elder sustained a traumatic brain injury from an improvised explosive device detonation while the convoy team performed operational tasks near Marjah, Afghanistan May 30, 2010.