This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Format Citations properly.(July 2020) |
Anthony John "Tony" Watson [1] (born May 18, 1949 [2] in Chicago) is a retired 31-year Navy veteran and a graduate of the Naval Academy (1970). He is one of the "Centennial Seven" African-American sailors who served as commanding officers of United States submarines in the 20th century. He was the first black submariner to be promoted to rear admiral. [3] He served on five different submarines and became the second African-American naval officer to command a nuclear submarine in December 1987. [4] He was raised in the public housing community of Cabrini-Green [5] on the near north side of Chicago, where he graduated from Lane Technical High School in 1966. [4] [6]
At the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, he was twice elected class president and was the first African American to achieve the rank of Brigade Commander as a third year midshipman. [7]
He was Commanding Officer, USS Jacksonville, a Los Angeles Class fast-attack nuclear submarine, where he conducted the first live-fire, at-sea depth charge test of a submarine since USS Thresher in 1963. From 1989 to 1992, he was Deputy Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy. In 1992, he was commander of Submarine Squadron Seven [8] in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, with 13 fast attack nuclear submarines under his command. [9]
As rear admiral he was assigned to the Pentagon where he worked under General Colin Powell who was then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Following that tour of duty, he was also Commander of the Navy Recruiting Command, an operation with a recruiting team of 6000 people nationwide.
His military awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, four Meritorious Service medals, three Navy Commendation Medals, the Navy Achievement Medal.
Watson is the son of John David Watson and Virginia Hortence (Smith) Watson. On July 21, 1984, he married his second wife Sharon Gray (Shires) Waddell in Norfolk, Virginia. [2]
Edward Latimer Beach Jr. was a highly decorated United States Navy submarine officer and best-selling author.
Eugene Bennett Fluckey, nicknamed "Lucky Fluckey", was a United States Navy rear admiral who received the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses during his service as a submarine commander in World War II.
Bruce Estes Grooms, is a retired vice admiral in the United States Navy. His last duty station before retirement was as Deputy Chief of Staff for Capability Development at Allied Command Transformation. He retired in June 2015.
Vice Admiral Melvin Gene Williams Jr. is an American retired officer in the United States Navy. He is the former Commander, U.S. Second Fleet and former Director, Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Center of Excellence.
Eugene Parks "Dennis" Wilkinson was a United States Navy officer. He was selected for three historic command assignments. The first, in 1954, was as the first commanding officer of USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. The second was as the first commanding officer of USS Long Beach, America's first nuclear surface ship. The third was in 1980 when he was chosen as the first President and CEO of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) from which he retired in 1984.
Rear Admiral Richard Joseph Naughton was the superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy from 2002 to 2003.
Rear Admiral Jay Allan DeLoach served as the Director of Naval History and Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command and the Curator of the Navy from 2008 to 2012. He was an American submarine officer who played a role in implementing a visionary "Memorandum of Understanding" between the Submarine Force Active component and the Reserve component. He helped pioneer many key initiatives that have since been adopted Navy-wide. DeLoach was the Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Resources, Requirements and Assessments.
Hispanic and Latino Admirals in the United States Navy can trace their tradition of naval military service to the Latino sailors, who have served in the Navy in every war and conflict since the American Revolution. Prior to the Civil War, the highest rank reached by a Latino-American in the Navy was commodore. Such was the case of Commodore Uriah Phillips Levy (1792–1862), a Sephardic Jew of Latin American descent and great grandson of Dr. Samuel Nunez, who served in the War of 1812. During the American Civil War, the government of the United States recognized that the rapid expanding Navy was in need of admirals therefore, Congress proceeded to authorize the appointment of nine officers the rank of rear admiral. On July 16, 1862, Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut became the first Hispanic-American to be appointed to the rank of rear admiral. Two years later (1864), Farragut became a vice admiral, and in 1866 the Navy's first full admiral. During World War I, Robert Lopez, the first Hispanic graduate of the United States Naval Academy, served with the rank of commodore in command of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, and during World War II five Hispanics served with the ranks of rear admiral or above in either the European or Pacific Theater's of the war. As of April 2007, twenty-two Hispanic-Americans have reached the rank of admiral, and of this number thirteen were graduates of the USNA.
Hispanics in the United States Naval Academy account for the largest minority group in the institution. According to the academy, the Class of 2009 includes 271 (22.2%) minority midshipmen. Out of these 271 midshipmen, 115 are of Hispanic heritage. In 2004, of the total of 736 female midshipmen, 74 (10%) of them were of Hispanic descent.
Roy Stanley Benson, nicknamed "Ensign", was a veteran submarine commander in World War II who later served as the Commander Submarine Force U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC) during the Cold War.
Richard Willard Mies is a retired United States Navy admiral who served as the fourth Commander in Chief of United States Strategic Command from 1998 to 2001.
Ignatius Joseph "Pete" Galantin was a four-star United States Navy admiral, World War II Navy Cross recipient, and the first commander of the Naval Material Command.
Patrick Hahler Brady is a retired United States Navy rear admiral who in July 2007 became the first person of Hispanic descent to be named Commander of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. At the time, he was one of four admirals of Hispanic descent who were serving in the United States Navy. He later served four years as head of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.
Henry Goodman Chiles Jr. is a retired United States Navy four star admiral who served as Commander in Chief, United States Strategic Command (USCINCSTRAT), from 1994 to 1996, the first naval officer to command all of the strategic nuclear forces of the United States.
Bruce DeMars is a retired United States Navy four star admiral who served as Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion from 1988 to 1996.
Patrick J. Hannifin was an American Navy vice admiral.
Michael J. Connor, is a retired United States Navy Vice Admiral. Connor held several, concurrent titles during his last assignment including Commander, United States Submarine Forces (COMNAVSUBFOR), Commander, Submarine Forces Atlantic (COMSUBLANT) and Commander, Allied Submarine Command. Connor served as commander of the U.S. submarine forces from September 2012 until September 2015.
Vice Admiral Joseph Edward Tofalo is a United States Naval officer. Until 3 August 2018, he served as: Commander Submarine Forces; Commander Submarine Force Atlantic; Commander Task Force 144; Commander Task Force 84; Commander Allied Submarine Command.
Norvell Gardiner Ward was an American naval officer and a recipient of the Navy Cross. He was a submariner for most of his naval career, but was also known for his planning and war gaming abilities. As a rear admiral he played a major role in planning and overseeing many naval operations during the Vietnam War, notably Operation Market Time.
Vice Admiral Sanjay Mahindru, AVSM, NM is a serving flag officer in the Indian Navy. Currently, he is the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. He assumed charge on 31 Mar 2022. Prior to this, he served as the Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA), having been appointed on 17 October 2016. He earlier served as Flag Officer Submarines from 2015 to 2016.