Mark E. Ferguson III (born October 30, 1956) is a retired United States Navyadmiral who last served as Commander, United States Naval Forces Europe, United States Naval Forces Africa and Allied Joint Force Command Naples.[2] Ferguson previously served as the 37th Vice Chief of Naval Operations from August 22, 2011, to July 1, 2014. Prior to that, he served as the 55th Chief of Naval Personnel and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Manpower, Personnel, Training & Education). He also served as chief of legislative affairs and assistant commander for distribution, Navy Personnel Command. He retired from active duty on July 1, 2016.[1]
Ferguson entered the United States Naval Academy from Glen Burnie, Maryland, with the Class of 1978. He graduated tenth in his class, earning a bachelor's degree in systems engineering and the N* as a member of the lacrosse team.[3][4]
Following graduation, Ferguson attended nuclear power school at Orlando, Florida, and nuclear prototype training in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Following completion of surface warfare officer's school in Newport, Rhode Island, he was assigned to the USSSouth Carolina(CGN-37), serving on board from 1980 to 1983.[5]
Ferguson reported to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and completed his master's degree in computer science. Following department head school, he reported in 1985 to the USSFife(DD-991) as operations officer.[5] From 1987 to 1989, he was assigned to the Bureau of Personnel in Washington, D.C., as an assignment officer.[5]
From 1989 to 1992, he served as the reactor officer on board USSDwight D. Eisenhower(CVN-69). During his tour, the ship participated in Operation Desert Storm and deployed to the United States European Command area of operations.[5] Following this tour, he reported to the Department of the Navy Office of Legislative Affairs in Washington, D.C., as the officer responsible for readiness and surface warfare programs.[5]
Ferguson was designated the first commanding officer of USSBenfold(DDG-65) and reported in 1995 to Pascagoula, Mississippi, with the pre-commissioning crew.[5] On March 30, 1996, the USS Benfold was commissioned in San Diego, California. During Ferguson's command tour, the ship was awarded multiple department awards, and subsequently, the Battle 'E' and the Spokane Trophy for the readiness cycle. In his article "Retention Through Redemption" in Harvard Business Review and subsequent book It's Your Ship, author D. Michael Abrashoff referred to his predecessor in USS Benfold.[6][7] Although his name was not explicitly mentioned, it was implied the person was Ferguson.[5]
In June 1997, Ferguson entered the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as a National Security Fellow. In August 1998, he reported to the staff of Supreme Allied Commander, Europe in Mons, Belgium, as a special assistant to the SACEUR. During this tour, he participated in Operation Allied Force, the NATO Air Campaign in the Balkans.[8][5]
Ferguson is promoted to admiral, August 22, 2011.
Upon returning from overseas, Ferguson reported as the commander of Destroyer Squadron 18 based in Norfolk, Virginia, as part of the USS Enterprise Strike Group. On September 11, he was commander of Task Force 60 in the Mediterranean.[5] In October, he returned to the navy's Office of Legislative Affairs as the director of the Senate Liaison Office. In 2003, he was selected for flag rank and reported as the assistant commander for distribution (PERS-4) at the Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tennessee.[5] In 2005, he was ordered to be the navy's chief of legislative affairs in Washington, D.C., and promoted to rear admiral.[5]
In April 2008, Ferguson was promoted to vice admiral and reported as the navy's Chief of Naval Personnel. During his tour, the navy was the first federal agency to receive the Optimas Award for General Excellence by Workforce Management Magazine for innovative personnel policies.[9] He was recognized for the introduction of flexible work programs such as telework, professional sabbaticals, and professional credentialing for navy work experience.[10][11] He was the personnel policy team leader for the Report of the Comprehensive Review of the Issues Associated with the Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", whose publication led to the repeal of the law,[12][13] and was instrumental in the return of NROTC to Ivy League campuses.[14][15][5]
On August 22, 2011, Ferguson was promoted to admiral and began his term as the 37th Vice Chief of Naval Operations. During this period, he testified before Congress on the impact of sequestration on the readiness of the force.[16][5]
After assuming command of United States Naval Forces Europe in July 2014, Ferguson was quoted on Russian activity in Crimea and in Europe.[17] He spoke at the Atlantic Council in October 2015 regarding Russia, and was cited in the press regarding resurgent Russian Navy and their construction of an 'arc of steel' from the Arctic to the Mediterranean.[18][19][20] During his tenure in command, the navy completed the deployment of four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to Rota, Spain, and activated the AEGIS ballistic missile defense site at the former Devaselu Airbase in Romania.[21][22][5] His tour was marked by a renewed focus on 'high-end' naval operations in the European theater.[23]
Ferguson was recognized for his support of navy personnel and was designated an honorary chief petty officer, recognized by the SEALs as an 'honorary frogman', and named a distinguished graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School.[24] In 2015, he received the Ellis Island Award in New York for his work in innovative personnel policies supporting service members and their families.[25][26][5]
He was selected in 2021 to serve as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association.
USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) is the United States Navy's third Nimitz-class supercarrier. She is named for Carl Vinson (1883–1981), a congressman from Georgia, in recognition of his contributions to the U.S. Navy. The ship was launched during Vinson's lifetime in 1980, undertook her maiden voyage in 1983, and underwent refueling and overhaul between 2005 and 2009.
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) is the fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in the United States Navy. She is the third Navy ship to have been named after the former President Abraham Lincoln. Her home port is NAS North Island, San Diego, California; she is a member of the United States Pacific Fleet. She is administratively responsible to Commander, Naval Air Forces Pacific, and operationally serves as the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 3 and host to Carrier Air Wing Nine. She was returned to the fleet on 12 May 2017, marking the successful completion of her Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) carried out at Newport News Shipyard. As of August 10, 2024, USS Abraham Lincoln and her strike group are being deployed to the Middle East as part of the U.S. response to the escalation of tensions between Iran and Israel.
The United States Second Fleet is a numbered fleet in the United States Navy responsible for operations in the East Coast and North Atlantic Ocean. Established after World War II, Second Fleet was deactivated in 2011, when the United States government believed that Russia's military threat had diminished, and reestablished in 2018 amid renewed tensions between NATO and Russia.
The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US military services as well as for other government agencies. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's ocean transport needs. The MSTS was renamed the Military Sealift Command in 1970.
USS Benfold (DDG-65) is a Flight I Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is a multi-mission platform capable of anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) with the powerful Aegis Combat System suite and anti-aircraft missiles, anti-submarine warfare (ASW), with towed sonar array, anti-submarine rockets, anti-surface warfare (ASUW) with Harpoon missiles, and strategic land strike using Tomahawk missiles. Benfold was one of the first ships fitted with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System and during the 2010 Stellar Daggers exercise was the first ship to simultaneously engage a ballistic missile and a cruise missile.
Gary Roughead is a former United States Navy officer who served as the 29th Chief of Naval Operations from 2007 to 2011. He previously served as Commander, United States Fleet Forces Command from May 17 to September 29, 2007. Prior to that, Roughead served as the 31st Commander, United States Pacific Fleet from 2005 to 2007. In 2011, he retired from the U.S. Navy after 38 years of service.
A carrier strike group (CSG) is a type of carrier battle group of the United States Navy. It is an operational formation composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, usually an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least two destroyers or frigates, and a carrier air wing of 65 to 70 aircraft. A carrier strike group also, on occasion, includes submarines, attached logistics ships and a supply ship. The carrier strike group commander operationally reports to the commander of the numbered fleet, who is operationally responsible for the area of waters in which the carrier strike group is operating.
USS William P. Lawrence (DDG-110) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer built by Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. She is the 60th ship in her class. The ship is named for Vice Admiral William P. Lawrence (1930–2005), a naval aviator, fighter pilot, test pilot, Mercury astronaut finalist, Vietnam War prisoner of war, a U.S. Third Fleet commander, a Chief of Naval Personnel, and a Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy.
Thomas Henry Copeman III is a retired officer of the United States Navy. In mid-2009 he was appointed commandant of the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His final assignment was as Commander, Naval Surface Forces Pacific from July 2012 to August 2014.
Samuel Perez Jr. is a retired rear admiral in the United States Navy.
Carrier Strike Group 10, is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. As of August 2022, CSG-10 consists of USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), the strike group's current flagship, with Carrier Air Wing Seven embarked on board, as well as the Ticonderoga-class cruiserLeyte Gulf, and four ships of Destroyer Squadron 26.
Carrier Strike Group 2 is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group, tracing its history originally to 1931. The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is the strike group's current flagship. As of Aug 2020, other units assigned to Carrier Strike Group 2 included the nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Three; the Ticonderoga-class cruisersUSS Philippine Sea (CG-58); USS Monterey (CG-61), USS Vella Gulf (CG-72) and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyersUSS Mitscher (DDG-57), USS Laboon, USS Mahan (DDG-72), and USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) from Destroyer Squadron 22.
Carrier Strike Group 3 is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. Carrier strike groups gain and maintain sea control as well as project naval airpower ashore. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) is the group's current flagship. Other units assigned as of 2024 include Carrier Air Wing Nine, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyersUSS O'Kane (DDG-77), USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG-121), and USS Spruance (DDG-111), which are part of Destroyer Squadron 21.
Carrier Strike Group 14 was a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. The group was for some time the only U.S. carrier strike group that did not have an assigned aircraft carrier or carrier air wing. As of December 2010, it directed the cruisers USS Gettysburg (CG-64) and USS Philippine Sea (CG-58). Carrier Strike Group 14 was seemingly last based at Naval Station Mayport. Without a carrier flagship, it did not conduct the typical deployments of other carrier strike groups; instead, its two cruisers made independent voyages.
Carrier Strike Group 15, is a training formation of the United States Navy. It trains and certifies Pacific Fleet Carrier Strike Groups, Amphibious Ready Groups, and independently deploying surface ships. It replaced Commander, Strike Force Training Pacific in a title change. Carrier Strike Group Four is the equivalent command for US Fleet Forces ships.
Carrier Strike Group Seven was a U.S. Navy carrier strike group active from October 2004 until 30 December 2011. The strike group's antecendants included two previous aircraft carrier formations, Carrier Division Seven and Carrier Group Seven. Its heritage thus includes the Second World War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War, as well as the first and the second Persian Gulf wars, encompassing a total of 34 deployments to the Western Pacific Ocean and Persian Gulf.
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Michael Martin Gilday is a retired United States Navy officer who last served as the 32nd chief of naval operations from August 22, 2019 to August 14, 2023. Gilday commanded two destroyers, served as Director of the Joint Staff, commanded the Tenth Fleet/Fleet Cyber Command, and led Carrier Strike Group 8.
↑ Michael., Abrashoff, D. (October 9, 2012). It's your ship: management techniques from the best damn ship in the Navy. ISBN9781455523023. OCLC801605273.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Affairs, This story was written by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Kyle P. Malloy, Chief of Naval Operations Public. "Navy Receives OPTIMAS Award for". Retrieved December 29, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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