Gregory N. Todd is a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

rear admiral and

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

who serves as the 28th

Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy The Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy (CHC) is the highest-ranking military chaplain in the United States Navy and head of the United States Navy Chaplain Corps. As part of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and Department of ...

. He previously served as the 20th

Chaplain of the Marine Corps The Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps (CHMC) is a position always filled by the officers serving as Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy as a "dual hatted" billet since 2000.

. He also served for four years as the tenth Chaplain of the Coast Guard. Over a thirty-two year career, he has served in a variety of Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard assignments, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and chaplaincy work at Ground Zero in the wake of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

. He is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Education

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

native, Todd earned a bachelor of arts degree in theology and education from Concordia College in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, in 1984. He received a Master of Divinity degree from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, and was ordained as a minister in the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The LC ...

in 1988. Chaplain Todd later earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in Christian Leadership from the

Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) is an evangelical seminary with its main campus in Hamilton, Massachusetts, and three other campuses in Boston, Massachusetts; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Jacksonville, Florida. According to the Ass ...

in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2009.

Career

Todd was commissioned as an Ensign in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

in 1986, providing ministry to Marine Corps Reserve units while concurrently serving as pastor for civilian churches in Illinois. He transferred to active duty in 1994 and served as Protestant chaplain at

Naval Amphibious Base Coronado Naval Amphibious Base Coronado (NAB Coronado) is a US naval installation located across the bay from San Diego, California. The base, situated on the Silver Strand, between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is a major Navy shore command, sup ...

, California. From 1996 to 1998, Todd was chaplain aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser ''USS Chancellorsville''. Todd served his first tour with the Coast Guard from 1998 to 2002, serving as chaplain at Coast Guard Activities New York. While there, he was the first Navy chaplain to arrive at the World Trade Center site after the

, and hosted a Coast Guard Chaplain Emergency Response Team of thirty Navy chaplains working with the Coast Guard, that ministered to civilians and emergency crews at various locations, including Ground Zero, the family center, and One Police Plaza. He was also part of response teams that responded after the crashes of EgyptAir Flight 990 and

American Airlines Flight 587 American Airlines Flight 587 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. On November 12, 200 ...

. Todd returned to ministry within the Marine Corps in 2002, reporting to the Second Force Service Support Group based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He deployed to Kuwait with the group's Forward Battalion at a part of

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. In 2004, he deployed to Afghanistan with the

22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU) is one of seven such units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. It is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 personnel. They are currently based out of M ...

in support of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

. setting up the ministry at Forward Operating Base Ripley in Afghanistan's Oruzgan Province. In May 2005, he assumed the duties as officer in charge of Marine Corps Chaplain and RP Expeditionary Skills Training (CREST) at Camp Johnson, a post he held until October 2008. He then attended the Senior Supervisory Chaplain Course, after which he reported aboard USS ''Kearsarge'' as command chaplain. Todd returned to the Marine Corps again in July 2010, as chaplain for the

2nd Marine Logistics Group The 2nd Marine Logistics Group (2nd MLG) is a logistics unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. 2nd MLG was formerly known as 2nd Force Service Support Group (FSSG), reorganiz ...

; in this capacity, he led transition and support ministries for Sailors and Marines deploying or redeploying from Afghanistan, and led a chaplain team in Ramstein, Germany supporting Third Location Decompression programs for Explosive Ordnance Disposal Marines, helping to facilitate their transition after a deployment described as "kinetic". In February 2013, he departed 2nd MLG and reported aboard as force chaplain for

II Marine Expeditionary Force The II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force consisting of ground, air and logistics forces capable of projecting offensive combat power ashore while sustaining itself in combat without external assistance for a ...

, leading II MEF's religious program for 50,000-plus Marines, Sailors, and family members. Todd returned for his second tour with the Coast Guard in June 2014, relieving Captain Gary Weeden as Chaplain of the Coast Guard. He was relieved by Captain Thomas Walcott in April 2018. At the end of February 2022, Todd was nominated for promotion to two-star rear admiral and appointment as the next

. Todd subsequently succeeded Brent W. Scott as Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy on 16 March 2022.

Awards and Qualifications

Todd's awards include: *He is also qualified as a Master Training Specialist.

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Gregory N. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod people Concordia University (Oregon) alumni Military personnel from Seattle 20th-century American Lutheran clergy United States Navy chaplains Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary alumni Chaplains of the United States Coast Guard United States Navy admirals Chaplains of the United States Marine Corps Chiefs of Chaplains of the United States Navy Concordia Seminary alumni 21st-century American Lutheran clergy