I am retiring from active Naval service after 24 years as a Meteorology and Oceanography (METOC) officer with three sea tours that included the USS Okinawa (LPH-3) for a western Pacific and Indian Ocean deployment, the USS Cleveland (LPD-7) for a southern Pacific counter narcotics deployment, and with Cruiser Destroyer Group Eight embarked the USS Theodore Roosevelt deployed to the Mediterranean for combat operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
My shore METOC tours included San Diego, Hawaii and Diego Garcia where my focus was maritime safety (Optimum Track Ship Routing) for Pacific Fleet ships and aviation safety of flight. Additionally, I qualified as a Typhoon Duty Officer and subsequently served as the Joint Operations Officer at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) with Pacific Command warning responsibility.
I served in a variety of major staff positions to include Naval Special Warfare Staff as Force Oceanographer, Secretary of the Navy Staff as an action officer for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Space (C4I & Space) systems, Commander US Third Fleet as Fleet Oceanographer, and the Naval Mine and ASW Command as the Staff Training Manager and Oceanographer.
I attended the Naval Postgraduate School, graduating with a Master of Science (MS) in Physical Oceanography and Meteorology in 1997, and earned my Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Georgetown University in 2009.
I am married to the former Bridget Savalle, a career Certified Public Accountant and Manager of Financial Reporting for Sempra Energy.