Black History Month: Maury County’s latest Admiral makes impact as leader in U.S. Navy
Maury County has had its share of naval heroes.
The highest ranking one to date is four-star Admiral William Banks Caperton, a Naval Academy graduate of 1875, whose career spanned five decades. Maury County also lays a claim to the first female admiral, Fran McKee, who was promoted to Rear Admiral (lower half) in 1976, and was the first of two women selected to attend the Naval War College.
But we can also claim a current admiral, Stephen Barnett. Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Barnett is one of just 15 African American admirals out of the 270 admirals currently in the U.S. Navy.
Barnett was raised in Maury County before he moved to Kentucky. He returned to his native state to attend Tennessee State University, after which he was inducted into Aviation Officer Candidate School in 1991. He became a P-3 pilot, taking part in various surveillance and anti-submarine operations from both land and carrier-based locations.
While commanding officer of VP-47 based in Hawaii, he oversaw simultaneous deployments to Japan and Iraq, executing more than 250 missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His squadron completed more than 950 sorties.
His staff-level commands increased in size and responsibility before being assigned to command of Naval Base Coronado, California; chief of staff to Commander, Navy Region Southeast; and Commander, Navy Installations Command.
He received his first star (Rear Admiral, Lower Half) and assumed the duties of commander of Navy Region Northwest in 2020. That placed him in command of every naval installation from Alaska to the Midwest. In 2021, he became commander of Navy Region Southwest, which included all naval installations in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.
In 2022, he became commander, Navy Region Hawaii, where he oversees a budget in the tens of billions of dollars, a fleet concentration of dozens of warships and more than 25,000 sailors and 10,000 civilian employees working in more than 60 commands. His command is the peace-time front line in the Pacific.
He was nominated for his second star in February of 2023 and was confirmed by the Senate in December of that year.
Stellar military career aside, Admiral Barnett is one of the finest men I have had the privilege of speaking to. Introspective and brilliant, he cares deeply for the people under his command, his country, his family, and Tennessee.
He is the beau ideal of a leader.
To learn more about Admiral Barnett, listen to my podcast, “History’s Hook” at www.frontporchradiotn.com/history or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Tom Price is director of the Maury County Archives.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Maury County’s latest Navy Admiral exemplifies values of leadership
