Vice Admiral Paul G Gaffney II

United States Navy

President, National Defense University

Vice Admiral Paul G. Gaffney II became the 10th President of the National Defense University on July 7, 2000. Prior to assuming his duties at NDU, he was the Chief of Naval Research with additional duties as Director, Test and Evaluation and Technology Requirements in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and Deputy Commandant (Science and Technology), Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.

His distinguished career has spanned three decades and includes duty at sea, overseas and ashore in executive and command positions. His duties have included tours as:

• Operations Officer, USS WHIPPOORWILL, a minesweeper homeported in Sasebo, Japan;

• Advisor to the Vietnamese Navy Combat Hydrographic Survey Team;

• Executive Assistant to the Oceanographer of the Navy, Washington D.C.;

• Commanding Officer of the Oceanographic Unit Four conducting hydrographic surveys in the Republic of Indonesia;

• Military Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense International Security Affairs;

• Commanding Officer of the Naval Oceanography Command Facility, Jacksonville, Florida;

• Assistant Chief of Naval Research in Washington, D.C.;

• Commanding Officer of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C;
• Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command.

He is a 1968 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Upon graduation, he was selected for immediate graduate education and received a master's degree in Ocean Engineering from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He completed a year as a student and advanced research fellow at the Naval War College ‑ graduating with highest distinction. He completed an MBA at Jacksonville University.

His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (four awards), Bronze Star (with "V") and the Naval War College's J. William Middendorf Prize for Strategic Research.