Former DCA Director is Honored For His Pioneering
in 1944 and was commissioned as the first African
Navy Service
Training Course. He was released from active duty in
By Jerome W. Mapp, DISA Corporate Communications
T
Gravely successfully completed officer training
American officer from the Navy Reserve Officer April 1946 but remained in the Naval Reserve.
When President Harry S. Truman issued
Executive Order 9981 in 1948 — the order to he Department of the Navy announced
desegregate the military services — Gravely returned
Sept. 12 that its newest Arleigh Burke-class
to active duty as a Navy recruiter in the Washington,
destroyer will bear the name of the late
D.C., metropolitan area, recruiting African Americans
VADM Samuel L. Gravely Jr., a pioneering officer and
into the service.
a former director of the Defense Communications
Agency (DCA). DCA was renamed the Defense
impressive firsts. He was the first African American
Information Systems Agency in 1991.
to command a U.S. Navy warship, the destroyer USS
Theodore E. Chandler; the first African American to
VADM John Harvey, chief, the Office of Naval
Among Gravely’s accomplishments are a string of
Personnel, announced
command an American
the honor during remarks
warship under combat
at the annual National
conditions since the
Historically Black
Civil War, the destroyer
Colleges and Universities
USS Taussig during
Conference in Washington,
the Vietnam War; the
D.C.
first African American
to command a major
“It’s fitting that this
type of ship be named
warship, the guided-
after a man who was
missile cruiser USS
able to set a true course
Jouett; the first African
for our nation’s Navy
American to rise to the
and, at the same time,
rank of admiral; and the
transform challenges
first African American
into accomplishments
to command a U.S.
and lead the way for a future generation of naval
VADM Samuel L. Gravely Jr. assumes command of the Third FLeet in 1976. Department of Navy photo
warfighters,” Harvey said
Gravely served as director of DCA from
fleet, the Third Fleet. His military decorations include the Bronze Star
and the Legion of Merit with one gold star.
September 1978 to July 1980. He retired from
the Navy in 1980 after nearly 40 years of service.
equipped with the Aegis Combat System, the Vertical
Gravely died in October 2004 and is buried in
Launching System, an advanced anti-submarine
Arlington National Cemetery.
warfare system, advanced antiaircraft missiles, and
Tomahawks. It has a gas-turbine propulsion system,
Born on June 4, 1922, in Richmond, Va., Gravely
The ship Gravely is a state-of-the-art vessel
enlisted as a seaman apprentice in the Navy Reserve
and it has the capability to operate independently
in 1942 after attending Virginia Union University in
or as part of carrier battle groups, surface action
his hometown. The next year, he participated in the
groups, amphibious ready groups, and underway
Navy’s V-12 Program, which provided accelerated
replenishment groups. Once commissioned, the USS
officer training for enlisted sailors at American
Gravely will sail with a crew of more than 20 officers
colleges and universities. As part of this training,
and 300 enlisted personnel.
»
Gravely attended the University of California at Los Angeles, Pre-Midshipman School in New Jersey, and Midshipmen School at Columbia University.
The Grid
November 2006