Flag Officer Assignments

March 31, 2010 - Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead announced today the following assignments:

Rear Adm. (lower half) Thomas L. Brown II will be assigned as commanding general, Joint Forces Special Operations Command - Iraq, U.S. Forces - Iraq. Brown is currently serving as deputy commander, Special Operations Command Europe, Vaihingen, Germany.

Rear Adm. (lower half) Charles K. Carodine will be assigned as deputy commander, Naval Warfare Development Command, Norfolk, Va. Carodine is currently serving as chief of staff, JTF-100 Maritime Operations Center, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, Va. Rear Adm. Edward H. Deets III will be assigned as commander, Naval Network Warfare Command, Norfolk, Va. Deets is currently serving as vice commander, Naval Network Warfare Command, Norfolk, Va.

Rear Adm. Karen A. Flaherty will be assigned as deputy chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Washington, D.C. Flaherty is currently serving as deputy chief, wounded, ill, and injured, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Washington, D.C.

Capt. Jeffrey Harbeson, who has been selected for promotion to Rear Adm. (lower half), will be assigned as commander, Joint Task Force Guantanamo, U.S. Southern Command, Guantanamo, Cuba. Harbeson is currently serving as deputy director, Surface Warfare for Combat Systems, N86F, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, D.C.

Capt. Gretchen S. Herbert, who has been selected for promotion to Rear Adm. (lower half), will be assigned as assistant chief of naval operations for Next Generation Enterprise Network System Program, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, D.C. Herbert is currently serving as director, network centric capabilities, N2/N6F1, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, D.C.

Rear Adm. (lower half) Jeffrey S. Jones will be assigned as commander, Expeditionary Strike Group Seven/commander, amphibious force, U.S. Seventh Fleet, Okinawa, Japan. Jones is currently serving as director, Iraq Training and Advisory Team Navy, U.S. Forces - Iraq.

Rear Adm. (lower half) William K. Lescher will be assigned as deputy director for resources and acquisition, J8, Joint Staff, Washington, D.C. Lescher is currently serving as director, Operations Division, Office of Budget, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Financial Management and Comptroller/director, Operations Division, Fiscal Management Division, N821, Office the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, D.C.

Rear Adm. (lower half) David H. Lewis will be assigned as program executive officer for ships, Washington, D.C. Lewis is currently serving as vice commander, Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C.

Rear Adm. (lower half) Ron J. MacLaren will be assigned as military director, Joint Contingency Acquisition Support Officer, Defense Logistics Agency, Fort Belvoir, Va. MacLaren is currently serving as assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics, fleet supply and ordnance, N4, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Rear Adm. Thomas P. Meek will be assigned as commander, Navy Cyber Forces, Norfolk, Va. Meek is currently serving as director, National Maritime Intelligence Center, Washington, D.C.

Rear Adm. (lower half) James A. Murdoch will be assigned as fleet maintenance officer, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, Va. Murdoch is currently serving as major program manager for littoral combat ships, Program Executive Office for Ships, Washington, D.C.