Kenneth Ray Whitesell (born July 19, 1961) is a retired vice admiral in the United States Navy, and the past Commander, Naval Air Forces.Vice Adm. Whitesell becomes Navy’s new Air Boss
Diana Stancy Correll, NavyTimes.com, 2020-10-05 He retired on September 7, 2023.

Education

Whitesell grew up in

Stuarts Draft, Virginia Stuarts Draft is a census-designated place (CDP) in Augusta County, Virginia, United States. It is part of the Staunton– Waynesboro Micropolitan Statistical Area and adjacent to the South River. Its population was 12,142 as of the 2020 cen ...

. He graduated from Old Dominion University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.Kenneth Whitesell (biography)
US Navy, 2020-10-05, accessed 2020-10-06 He is also a graduate of the

Joint Forces Staff College The Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC), located in Norfolk, Virginia, was established as the Armed Forces Staff College in 1946 and incorporated into the National Defense University in August 1981. It educates and acculturates joint and multinat ...

and the Naval War College, where he earned a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies.

Naval career

Whitesell became a Naval Flight Officer in the United States Navy, being commissioned at Officer Candidate School in February 1985 and earning his Naval Aviator Insignia in October 1986. He graduated from the Navy Fighter Weapons School and flew the F-14 Tomcat and, later, the

F/A-18 Super Hornet The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more adv ...

. He has over 4,000 flight hours. His operational assignments have been: * Fighter Squadron VF-142, * Top Gun training officer and assistant operations officer with VF-74, *

VF-32 Strike Fighter Squadron 32 (VFA-32), nicknamed the "Fighting Swordsmen" are a United States Navy strike fighter squadron presently flying the F/A-18F Super Hornet and based ashore at Naval Air Station Oceana. Their radio callsign is ''Gypsy'' an ...

, * Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-41, Whitesell has participated in Operations

Desert Shield The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

Southern Watch Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from Summer 1992 to Spring 2003. United States Central Command's Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) had the mission of mon ...

, Deliberate Guard/

Allied Force An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, Iraqi Freedom and

Inherent Resolve Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the U.S. military's operational name for the International military intervention against IS, including both a campaign in Iraq and a campaign in Syria, with a closely-related campaign in Libya. Throu ...

. Overseas assignments ashore: * Combined Air and Space Operations Center battle director, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar * Chief of staff and director, Maritime Operations Center, Commander, United States Navy Central Command/Commander, United States Fifth Fleet

Commands

Top Gun Maveric Global Premiere May 2022

Whitesell has served as commander of: * Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-41, USS ''Nimitz'' * Carrier Air Wing One aboard , *

Carrier Strike Group 2 } Carrier Strike Group 2 (CSG-2 or COMCARSTRKGRU 2) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group, tracing its history originally to 1931. The aircraft carrier is the strike group's current flagship. As of Aug 2020, other units assigned to Carrier Strik ...

aboard , *

Naval Air Forces Commander, Naval Air Forces ( COMNAVAIRFOR, and CNAF; and dual-hatted as Commander, Naval Air Force, Pacific, and COMNAVAIRPAC) is the aviation Type Commander (TYCOM) for all United States Navy naval aviation units. Type Commanders are in Admini ...

(COMNAVAIRFOR) and

Naval Air Force, Pacific Commander, Naval Air Forces ( COMNAVAIRFOR, and CNAF; and dual-hatted as Commander, Naval Air Force, Pacific, and COMNAVAIRPAC) is the aviation Type Commander (TYCOM) for all United States Navy naval aviation units. Type Commanders are in Admini ...

Fleet (COMNAVAIRPAC).

Awards and decorations

References

, - , - , -

External links

COMNAVAIRFOR website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitesell, Kenneth R. 1961 births United States Navy personnel of the Gulf War United States Navy personnel of the Iraq War Living people Naval War College alumni Old Dominion University alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal United States Naval Flight Officers United States Navy vice admirals