Mary Marcella Jackson (born 1966) is a retired

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 ...

officer.

Career

Mary Jackson graduated from high school in

Wimberley Wimberley is a village in Hays County, Texas, United States. It is still predominantly a ranching area outside of town. The population was 2,839 at the 2020 census. History Wimberley started as a trading post settlement near Cypress Creek in ...

, Texas and her Navy biography list her as a native. However, she was born in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and spent 15 years of her life in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

as a child. Her father was a

US Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

officer during World War II and also a geologist. Jackson decided to become an oceanographer at an early age and chose to study with the Navy to save on tuition fees. She graduated from the

US Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is ...

in 1988 with a bachelor of science degree in physics, but particularly specialised in oceanography. She was awarded a post graduate degree in engineering management from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

. Jackson became a surface warfare officer in 1989. She served on board ships in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. This included stints as assistant operations officer and navigator with fleet replenishment ship USS ''Willamette'' and as operations officer on the destroyer USS ''Briscoe'' and guided missile cruiser USS ''Vella Gulf''. Jackson was executive officer on the guided missile destroyer USS ''Stout'' before receiving her first command, the guided missile destroyer USS ''McFaul''. The ''McFaul'' was the flagship of

Combined Task Force Iraqi Maritime Combined Task Force Iraqi Maritime or CTF IM (before 2009 known as Combined Task Force 158) was an international naval task group, established as a result of Operation Iraqi Freedom. It consisted of naval assets from the United States Navy and Coas ...

and

Destroyer Squadron 50 Destroyer Squadron 50 (DESRON 50) is a destroyer squadron of the United States Navy. The squadron was first formed during World War II when the squadron commodore and his staff led ships in the Pacific War, Pacific Theater from October 1943 until ...

. Jackson has also served as a navigation and seamanship instructor at the Naval Academy and as theater air and missile defense officer with

Joint Forces Command The United Kingdom's Strategic Command (StratCom), previously known as Joint Forces Command (JFC), manages allocated joint capabilities from the three armed services. History Background In August 2010 the then Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, as ...

. She was flag secretary to the commander of naval surface forces, chief of staff to the commander of the mid-Atlantic region and has held positions with

Navy Personnel Command The Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) in the United States Department of the Navy is similar to the human resources department of a corporation. The bureau provides administrative leadership and policy planning for the Office of the Chief of Nava ...

. Jackson has also been executive officer and commander of Naval Station Norfolk. Jackson commanded Navy Region Southeast from July 18, 2014 to February 23, 2017. She was appointed vice admiral and commander of

Navy Installations Command Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) is an Echelon II shore command responsible for all shore installations under the control of the United States Navy. As an Echelon II command, it reports directly to the Chief of Naval Operations. It i ...

in April 2017, responsible for all of the US Navy's on-shore infrastructure – 71 installations on almost one million acres of land. She was promoted directly from the

one-star rank An officer of one-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-6. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, one-star officers hold the rank o ...

of Rear admiral (lower half) to three-star rank. She relinquished command of Navy Installations in May 2020 and was awarded the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Mary M. 1966 births Living people Spanish people of American descent Saudi Arabian people of American descent People from Wimberley, Texas United States Naval Academy alumni George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit Female admirals of the United States Navy United States Navy vice admirals Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal