Tate Westbrook | |
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 Then Commander Tate Westbrook in 2009 | |
| Birth name | Michael Tate Westbrook [1] |
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Michael Tate Westbrook is an officer in the United States Navy who served as commanding officer of the USS Spruance (DDG-111) from May 2010 to May 2012. Prior to this, he served in the Pentagon on the Naval Operations Staff's Programming Division from fall 2007 through June 2009.
Westbrook's initial sea tours were in USS Hawes (FFG-53) as Communications Officer, Ordnance Officer and Weapons Control Officer, and included combat action in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. In 1993, he resigned from active duty to pursue a career as a small business entrepreneur in Charleston, South Carolina, during which time he also achieved a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Master's license. He returned to active duty in 1997 and eventually served as Combat Systems Officer in USS O'Brien (DD-975), then later served as the commissioning Combat Systems Officer in USS McCampbell (DDG-85).
He then served at the Missile Defense Agency as the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program Support Officer in 2003, and as the Missile Defense Agency's liaison to the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense from 2004 through 2005. He then served as Executive Officer in USS Laboon (DDG-58), one of the three ships of the first Atlantic Fleet Destroyer Sea Swap experiment.
In 2007, he was one of the 30 selected as National Finalists in the White House Fellows program. [2] He represented the Navy as a 2008-2009 Fellow in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI program. [3]
Westbrook commanded the Navy task force that launched the 2017 Shayrat missile strike in response to the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack in Syria. [4]
| Ribbon | Description | Notes |
 | Defense Meritorious Service Medal | |
 | Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal | |
 | Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal |
Westbrook is a native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He holds a bachelor's degree in rhetoric from Tulane University and a Master of Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.
The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers (DDGs) is a United States Navy class of destroyer built around the Aegis Combat System and the SPY-1D multifunction passive electronically scanned array radar. The class is named for Admiral Arleigh Burke, an American destroyer officer in World War II, and later Chief of Naval Operations. The lead ship, USS Arleigh Burke, was commissioned during Admiral Burke's lifetime.
The Aegis Combat System is an American integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and now produced by Lockheed Martin. It uses powerful computer and radar technology to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets.
USS Decatur (DDG-73) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named for the former naval officer Stephen Decatur, Jr. This ship is the 22nd destroyer of her class. USS Decatur was the 13th ship of this class to be built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, and construction began on 11 January 1996. She was launched on 10 November 1996 and was christened on 8 November 1996. On 29 August 1998 she was commissioned at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland, Oregon.
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USS Barry (DDG-52) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, commissioned in 1992. Barry is the fourth United States Navy ship named after the "Father of the American Navy", Commodore John Barry (1745–1803). Its homeport is Naval Station Yokosuka, Japan. Several improvements over Arleigh Burke exist on this ship and all following Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. They include the ability to refuel a helicopter and several other small improvements.
USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) is the third Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer and the first ship of the class homeported on the west coast. She is named after American Revolutionary War naval captain John Paul Jones and the second ship to be so named. She was built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. The ship is currently part of Destroyer Squadron 23, and administratively reports to Commander, Naval Surface Forces Pacific.
USS Stout (DDG-55) is the fifth Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer. Built by Ingalls Shipbuilding, she was commissioned on 13 August 1994 and she is currently home-ported in Naval Station Norfolk. She is part of Destroyer Squadron 26. Stout is named for Rear Admiral Herald F. Stout (1903–1987), who distinguished himself as the Commanding Officer of the destroyer USS Claxton during World War II. In November 1943, Commander Stout received two Navy Crosses in the span of three weeks for his actions in the Pacific. Stout aided Destroyer Squadron 23 in sinking five heavily armed Japanese warships and damaging four others during the Solomon Islands campaign as well as sinking four more Japanese warships and damaging two others to establish a beachhead on Bougainville Island. The ship was ordered from Ingalls Shipbuilding on 13 December 1988. The keel was laid down on 8 August 1991 and the vessel was launched on 16 October 1992. Stout was commissioned on 13 August 1994.
The Ticonderoga class of guided-missile cruisers is a class of warships in the United States Navy, first ordered and authorized in the 1978 fiscal year. The class uses passive phased-array radar and was originally planned as a class of destroyers. However, the increased combat capability offered by the Aegis Combat System and the AN/SPY-1 radar system, together with the capability of operating as a flagship, were used to justify the change of the classification from DDG to CG shortly before the keels were laid down for Ticonderoga and Yorktown.
USS Benfold (DDG-65) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy.
USS Ross (DDG-71) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is the second Navy ship to be named Ross, the first Navy ship named for Medal of Honor recipient Donald K. Ross and the 21st destroyer of her class. The first Ross, DD-563, was named for David Ross, a captain in the Continental Navy.
USS Mahan (DDG-72) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer currently in service with the United States Navy. This ship is the 22nd destroyer of her class. USS Mahan was the 12th ship of this class to be built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, and construction began on 17 August 1995. She was launched and christened on 29 June 1996. On 14 February 1998 she was commissioned in Tampa, Florida. Mahan is homeported in Norfolk, Virginia, and as of 2012 was attached to Destroyer Squadron 2. By 2016, the ship was part of Destroyer Squadron 22.
USS O'Kane (DDG-77) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. The ship was built by Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, starting on 8 May 1997. The ship was commissioned on 23 October 1999. She is named for Medal of Honor recipient Rear Admiral Richard O'Kane.
USS Porter (DDG-78) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. Porter is the fifth US Navy ship to be named after US Navy officers Commodore David Porter, and his son, Admiral David Dixon Porter. This ship is the 28th destroyer of her class. Porter was the 12th ship of this class to be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was laid down on 2 December 1996, launched and christened on 12 November 1997, and commissioned 20 March 1999, in Port Canaveral, Florida.
The Zumwalt-class destroyer is a class of three United States Navy guided missile destroyers designed as multi-mission stealth ships with a focus on land attack. It is a multi-role class that was designed for secondary roles of surface warfare and anti-aircraft warfare and originally designed with a primary role of naval gunfire support. It was intended to take the place of battleships in meeting a congressional mandate for naval fire support. The ship is designed around its two Advanced Gun Systems, their turrets and magazines, and unique Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) ammunition. LRLAP procurement was cancelled, rendering the guns unusable, so the Navy re-purposed the ships for surface warfare. Procurement was halted after the first three Zumwalts, and the navy reverted to building Arleigh Burke destroyers. A National Review article by Mike Fredenburg calls the Zumwalts "an unmitigated disaster". The class design emerged from the DD-21 "land attack destroyer" program as "DD(X)".
USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) is a guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. She is the lead ship of the Zumwalt class and the first ship to be named after Admiral Elmo Zumwalt. Zumwalt has stealth capabilities, having a radar cross-section similar to a fishing boat despite her large size. On 7 December 2015, Zumwalt began her sea trial preparatory to joining the Pacific Fleet. The ship was commissioned in Baltimore on 15 October 2016. Her home port is San Diego, California.
Charles Samuel Hamilton is an award-winning rear admiral in the United States Navy.
Samuel Perez Jr. is a retired Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.
Rear Admiral Jesse Alphonso Wilson Jr. USN currently serves as commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic.
James P. "Phil" Wisecup is a retired United States Navy vice admiral, who last serived as the 38th Naval Inspector General. Prior to that, he served as the president of the Naval War College. Since October 2013, he has been director of the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group.
Destroyer Squadron 60 is a destroyer squadron of the United States Navy. Destroyer Squadron 60 is one of three U.S. Navy destroyer squadrons permanently based outside the continental United States.
