Dwight Shepherd

Last updated

Dwight Shepherd
Rear Admiral Dwight Shepherd.jpg
Rear Admiral Dwight Shepherd, USN, c. 2014
Bornc.1961 (age 6061)
AllegianceFlag of the United States.svg  United States of America
Service/branch United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg United States Navy
Years of service1984–2016
Rank US-O7 insignia.svg Rear admiral (lower half)
Commands held Strategic Communications Wing One
Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (VQ-3)
Awards Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit (2)
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal (2)
Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (3)
Joint Service Achievement Medal
Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (3)
Alma mater

Rear Admiral Dwight Shepherd (born c. 1961) is a retired United States Navy officer and career Naval Flight Officer who last served as Director of Cyberspace Operations, J6, at U.S. Northern Command/ North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) from June 2014 to August 2016. Before that, he served as Director of Manpower and Personnel, J1, on the Joint Staff from June 2012 to June 2014 and as the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, from April 2011 to June 2012.

Contents

Early life and education

Shepherd is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1983, earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, majoring in Marketing. He also earned a Master of Science in 2006 from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), in National Resource Strategy.

Military career

Shepherd was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy in June 1984 and earned his Naval Flight Officer wings in July 1985. Shepherd's operational command tours include Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (VQ-3), the Navy’s largest aviation squadron. His major command was Strategic Communications Wing One and Task Force 124. He was the first black officer to command a "take charge and move out" (TACAMO) squadron and air wing.

His operational tours include Patrol Special Projects Unit (VPU) 2 (Avionics Division Officer), VQ-3 (Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures (NATOPS), flight officer and maintenance officer), and Commander Task Force 70/75/Carrier Strike Group 5 (N6/IWC), Yokosuka, Japan, aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63).

His shore tours include Bureau of Naval Personnel/PERS-43 (Initial Assignment and VQ/Force Support detailer), Naval Training Support Unit (NTSU) (NATOPS evaluator/instructor), U.S. Strategic Command (TACAMO/ABNCP current ops officer), and Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV)/N6F (executive assistant), OPNAV N00X (strategic alignment branch head), senior military assistant to the secretary of the Navy, and director, Manpower and Personnel, J1, Joint Staff.

Shepherd retired from the United States Navy with 32 years of service in August 2016. [1]

Post-military career

Shepherd served as the Vice President of Client Relations at General Dynamics Information Technology/CSRA Inc. from November 2016 to January 2019. He has also served as President of his consulting firm, Dwight Shepherd Consulting and More, LLC, since December 2018. [2]

He has also served on the Board of Directors at Steampunk, a cybersecurity company, since October 2019. [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

TACAMO US strategic communications system

TACAMO is a United States military system of survivable communications links designed to be used in nuclear warfare to maintain communications between the decision-makers and the triad of strategic nuclear weapon delivery systems. Its primary mission is serving as a signals relay, where it receives orders from a command plane such as Operation Looking Glass, and verifies and retransmits their Emergency Action Messages (EAMs) to US strategic forces. As it is a dedicated communications post, it features the ability to communicate on virtually every radio frequency band from very low frequency (VLF) up through super high frequency (SHF) using a variety of modulations, encryptions and networks, minimizing the likelihood an emergency message will be jammed by an enemy. This airborne communications capability largely replaced the land-based extremely low frequency (ELF) broadcast sites which became vulnerable to nuclear strike.

Miles B. Wachendorf

Miles Benton "Ben" Wachendorf is a retired Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.

Margaret D. Klein United States Navy admiral

Margaret DeLuca "Peg" Klein is a former United States Navy officer who held the rank of rear admiral at the time of her retirement in March 2017. She currently serves as the dean of the College of Leadership and Ethics at the Naval War College.

Matthew L. Klunder

Rear Admiral Matthew Lewis Klunder was the Chief of Naval Research at the Office of Naval Research in Arlington, Virginia from 2011 to 2014. In July 2010, Klunder reported as director of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Capabilities Division, OPNAV N2/N6F2 following his assignment as the 83rd Commandant of Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy.

Walter B. Massenburg

Vice Admiral Walter Black Massenburg is a retired US Navy admiral and former commander of the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Maryland.

Wendi B. Carpenter

Rear Admiral Wendi Bryan Carpenter is a retired United States Navy flag officer and naval aviator. She is also a past president of the State University of New York Maritime College.

Jesse A. Wilson Jr. United States rear admiral

Rear Admiral Jesse Alphonzo Wilson Jr. is a retired United States Navy officer. His last active duty assignment was as commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic.

Robin Braun

Robin Rumble Braun is a retired vice admiral of the United States Navy. Her last assignment was as Chief of Navy Reserve and Commander, Navy Reserve Force. She assumed that assignment on 13 August 2012. She was the first female commander of the United States Navy Reserve, and the first woman to lead any Reserve component of the United States military. Prior to her last assignment, Braun served as Deputy Director, European Plans and Operations Center, ECJ-3 United States European Command.

Strategic Communications Wing One is a nuclear command and control wing of the United States Navy. Its TACAMO mission provides airborne communications links to nuclear missile units of United States Strategic Command. It is located at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (United States Navy) Naval aviation squadron of the United States Navy

Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (VQ-3), nicknamed the Ironmen, is a naval aviation squadron of the United States Navy based at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The squadron flies the Boeing E-6B Mercury airborne command post and communications relay aircraft. It is part of the Navy's TACAMO community, whose mission is to enable the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense to directly communicate with U.S. submarines, bombers, and missile silos during a nuclear war.

Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 4 (United States Navy) Military unit

Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 4 (VQ-4), nicknamed the Shadows, is a naval aviation squadron of the United States Navy based at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The squadron flies the Boeing E-6B Mercury airborne command post and communications relay aircraft. It is part of the U.S. Navy's TACAMO community, whose mission is to enable the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense to directly communicate with U.S. submarines, bombers, and missile silos during a nuclear war.

William F. Moran (admiral) US Navy Admiral

William Francis Moran is a United States Navy admiral who served as the 39th Vice Chief of Naval Operations from May 31, 2016, to June 10, 2019. He previously served as the Chief of Naval Personnel and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education (N1) from August 2, 2013, to May 27, 2016.

Jan E. Tighe

Jan Elizabeth Tighe is a retired United States Navy vice admiral who served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare and 66th Director of Naval Intelligence from July 15, 2016 to July 2018. Prior to that, Tighe served as the Commander of the Tenth Fleet and Fleet Cyber Command.

DeWolfe Miller III

DeWolfe H. "Chip" Miller III is a former vice admiral in the United States Navy who retired as the Commander, Naval Air Forces, which is also Type Commander (TYCOM) for all United States Navy aviation units, and double-hatted as Commander, Naval Air Force, Pacific.

Joseph J. Dantone Former senior officer in the U.S. Navy

Rear Admiral Joseph John "Jack" Dantone Jr. of U.S. Navy, was last director of Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) from May 1996 to September 1996. He was also the Acting Director of National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) from October 1996 to March 1998. He played a major role in transition of DMA into NIMA.

Jon C. Kreitz

Jon Christopher Kreitz is a retired United States Navy Rear Admiral and former Deputy Director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. He is an Independent Director on the Board of Directors of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF).

Annie B. Andrews United States Navy Rear Admiral

Annie Belle Andrews is an Assistant Administrator for Human Resources Management in the Federal Aviation Administration, and a former Rear Admiral in the US Navy, serving in the areas of manpower, personnel, training and education. She is the third African-American woman to reach the rank of rear admiral in the US Navy.

Charles A. Richard US Navy admiral

Charles Anthony "Chas" Richard is a United States Navy admiral who currently serves as the 11th commander of United States Strategic Command. He previously served as Commander Submarine Forces, Submarine Force Atlantic and Allied Submarine Command.

Stephen D. Barnett US Navy officer (born c. 1969)

Stephen D. Barnett is an active duty United States Navy officer and career naval flight officer who serves as commander of Navy Region Southwest since July 16, 2021. He previously served as commander, Navy Region Northwest from March 2021 to June 2021.

John B. Nowell US Navy officer

John Blackwelder Nowell Jr. is a vice admiral in the United States Navy. Nowell assumed duties as the navy's 59th Chief of Naval Personnel on May 24, 2019. Nowell is a distinguished graduate of the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering and holds a Master of Science in Weapons Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.

References

  1. "Rear Admiral Dwight Shepherd > United States Navy > BioDisplay". www.navy.mil. Retrieved 2021-01-14.PD-icon.svgThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  2. "RDML Dwight D. Shepherd, USN (Ret.)" (PDF). afcea.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-01-16. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  3. Steampunk. "Steampunk Welcomes Rear Admiral (retired) Dwight D. Shepherd To Serve on Its Board of Directors". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  4. "Rear Admiral (Retired) Dwight D. Shepherd to Join Steampunk's Board of Directors – Homeland Security Today" . Retrieved 2021-01-14.