Meet the New Leaders: Lt. Jonathan Fleming, Port Operations Officer

Story and photo by Joel Diller, Public Affairs

Lt. Jonathan Fleming, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., commissioned as a naval officer in 2016 upon graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in Ocean Engineering. He comes to Team Souda from Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship USS Zephyr (PC-8) homeported at Mayport, Fla., where he served as the executive officer. His previous experience of requesting ship’s support from shore installations while underway has prepared him to lead Team Souda’s Port Operations Department in providing excellent support to the Fleet as they make port visits to Souda Bay.

Why did you decide to join the Navy?

My grandfather was in the Navy right after he graduated high school. He always recommended that I do it just because joining the Navy helped him mature in that transition from being a high school student living with your parents to being an adult and having responsibilities. It really forces people to mature, so he encouraged that. And, where I grew up in New York is really close to West Point, so I was always aware of the service academies. So, I was able to combine service academies and the Navy with my grandfather into the Navy’s service academy.

What do you do as Team Souda’s port operations officer?

I am the “go-between” between all the USS ships that are trying to come and moor at Souda Bay. So, in the mornings I’ll go and check all the message traffic to see who is getting diplomatic clearance and who is requesting to come. I’ll go back and talk to the port manager, George Drikakis, who is the go-between for us and the Hellenic Navy. We give the Hellenic Navy our proposed schedule and they chop it up and say, “these are the vessels we can support.” Then I go back and tell all that information to the ships. Then the ships will have special requests from the base for different support items they need or liberty requests, so I process all of those and assist the ship with their visit to make sure they accomplish what they want to.

What are you looking forward to most about living in Greece?

I’m really hoping to use Crete as a springboard to the rest of Europe and tour around as much as I can. In November, there is a marathon in Athens called the Authentic Athens Marathon and it starts in the city of Marathon and you run all the way to Athens and you end in the old Olympic stadium in the city. The registration opens soon so I’m hoping to get a spot there and be able to run the original marathon.

Have you run a marathon before?

I’ve run one marathon in the past and it’s how I decompress from work – go for a nice long run.

Have you been able to run much around Souda Bay?

Not so much because of COVID, but now I’ve got a spot – a nice long road along the waterfront near my house, so I plan to do a lot of runs along there.

What else do you like to do outside of work?

I really like reading. I’m really interested in history. So, hopefully lots of tours of museums and ancient ruins and stuff of that nature.

What do you want Team Souda to know?

Coming to Souda Bay as the Port Ops was my number one choice and it was because Souda Bay has such an awesome reputation in the Fleet. They’ve been doing great work in the past and hopefully as part of the team we can continue to do great work in the future and keep the great reputation.