Photo By Sarah Cannon | Military Sealift Command Pacific (MSCPAC) welcomes its new leader, Capt. Kendall G....... read more read more
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Military Sealift Command Pacific (MSCPAC) welcomes its new leader, Capt. Kendall G. Bridgewater. Bridgewater assumed command from Capt. Gabe Varela, who has served as commander of MSCPAC since 2019.
Bridgwater joins the MSC team following a position as the prospective Commanding Officer facilitator at the Navy Leadership and Ethics Center in Newport, R.I.
A native of Carrollton, Ill., Bridgewater’s military career began with the Army where he served in the enlisted ranks, on active duty from 1985 to 1989 as a Cannon Crewman in the 1st Armored and 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Divisions. He was commissioned into the Navy through Officer Candidate School after graduating from Lindenwood College in 1996, with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management. He also holds a master’s degree in National Security Policy and Strategic Studies, from the Navy War College.
Throughout his career, Bridgwater has served at a number of at-sea commands, and in a variety of positions including; Naval Surface Squadron FIVE in Bahrain, where he lead his team through the reorganization from Patrol Coastal Squadron ONE, and LCS Crew 104; USS Fort Worth (LCS 3); USS MILWAUKEE (LCS 5), as the commanding officer during their commissioning USS DECATUR (DDG 73); USS PEARL HARBOR (LSD-52); USS McFAUL (DDG-74); and officer in charge of LCS Anti-Submarine Warfare Detachment Two, and Destroyer Squadron Two One Combat Systems Officer.
Bridgewater’s shore duty assignments include, lead instructor for DDG Engineering at Surface Warfare Officer’s School; as a volunteer for a Global War on Terror Support Assignment completing an 11 month tour in Baghdad with Multi-National Forces-Iraq, Combined-Joint Operations Division, as a Liaison Officer to the Iraqi Prime Minister’s National Operations Center; OPNAV staff as the lead action officer for Navy to Navy Strategy Talks and the Afghanistan/Pakistan Strategy Cell in the Strategy and Policy Division (N51); and as a Federal Executive Fellow with the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington, D.C. think tank.
“I am extremely fortunate to be joining this esteemed team of professionals,” said Bridgewater. “I look forward to working alongside everyone at MSCPAC, to ensure our ships are provided with the required support to accomplish their missions.”
During the brief ceremony at the MSCPAC Headquarters Building in San Diego, Calif., Bridgewater relieved Varela, who since assuming command, has overseen a wide range of operations and exercises, including the Operation Deep Freeze resupply mission to Antarctica, Arctic Expeditionary Capabilities Exercise 2019, the deployment of hospital ship USNS Mercy to Los Angeles, in support of COVID-19 relief efforts, and the 2020 Rim of the Pacific exercise.
The ceremony also marked the end of Varela’s 33 year Navy career.
“Team PAC, this has been an amazing tour! Where do you go after this?,” said Varela, “ I have been incredibly fortunate to work for this terrific group of professionals, who rise to any challenge that is thrown at them. Particularly the last few months have reinforced that fact. You have always impressed me! The successes of MSC Pacific truly rest with this dedicated Staff as you all are the connective tissue that cements our shore facilities and afloat forces with our mission. As I head off to my front porch in sunny Oceanside, I leave this command with a bitter sweet sense of where I was and where I’m going, but I know that Commodore Bridgewater will be in good hands and that you are as well. Fairwinds and following seas shipmates and shoremates, after over 33 years Varela out!”
| Date Taken: | 10.09.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.09.2020 13:38 |
| Story ID: | 380681 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 241 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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