Nora Wingfield Tyson (born 1957) 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 ...

vice admiral. In 2015, she was installed as commander of the

Third Fleet The United States Third Fleet is one of the numbered fleets in the United States Navy. Third Fleet's area of responsibility includes approximately fifty million square miles of the eastern and northern Pacific Ocean areas including the Bering ...

, making her the first woman to lead a United States Navy ship fleet. She retired from service in 2017.Third Fleet Change of Command, September 16, 2017, U.S. Navy release. http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=102449 Tyson previously served as the commander of Carrier Strike Group Two, from July 29, 2010 to January 12, 2012; she was the first female commander of a United States Navy

Carrier Strike Group A carrier strike group (CSG) is a type of carrier battle group of the United States Navy. It is an operational formation composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, usually an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least t ...

. She then served as Vice Director of the

Joint Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

beginning in February 2012.Flag Officer Announcements
U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs), January 19, 2012. In July 2013 she was promoted to vice admiral and named as Deputy Commander,

United States Fleet Forces Command The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFF) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United Sta ...

Education

A native of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, Nora Wingfield Tyson attended St. Mary's Episcopal School, graduating in 1975. Tyson graduated from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in 1979, majoring in English. Later that year, she attended

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country. How OCS is run differs between countries and services. Ty ...

and was commissioned into the

in December 1979. In 1995, Tyson earned her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in National Security and Strategic Affairs from the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associ ...

Naval career

After a tour in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, Tyson became a

Naval Flight Officer A naval flight officer (NFO) is a commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots (naval aviators), but they may perform many "co-pilot" or ...

in 1983. She then served three tours in Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Four (VQ-4) in both

Naval Air Station Patuxent River Naval Air Station Patuxent River , also known as NAS Pax River, is a United States naval air station located in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent River. It is home to Headquarters, Naval Air S ...

and

Tinker Air Force Base Tinker Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, surrounded by Del City, Oklahoma City, and Midwest City. The base, origina ...

, one of which as a commanding officer. Ashore, she served as airborne communications officer course instructor and officer-in-charge at Naval Air Maintenance Training Detachment 1079, NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. Other shore duty assignments included serving as a political-military planner and assistant in the Asia-Pacific Division of the Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate for the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

, the Director of Staff for the Commander of Naval Forces Europe, and an executive assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations. Sea duty for Tyson included serving as a navigator aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the operations officer on the training aircraft carrier . Later, Captain Tyson commanded the amphibious assault ship during a time when the ship provided support for Hurricane Katrina relief, as well as undertaking two deployments to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In September 2007, Tyson was promoted to rear admiral (lower half) and took command of Task Force 73 in Singapore. On July 29, 2010, Tyson assumed command of Carrier Strike Group Two, with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as its flagship, becoming the first woman to command a United States Navy aircraft carrier task group. During the ceremony, she stated, "As far as the trailblazing piece, I understand I am the first woman on the job ... but I'm a professional just like my fellow officers are, and my fellow strike group commanders." Carrier Strike Group Two completed its Composite Unit Training Exercise and Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) predeployment underway training cycle and subsequently departed

Norfolk Naval Base Naval Station Norfolk is a United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, that is the headquarters and home port of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Forces Command. The installation occupies about of waterfront space and of pier and wharf space of the Hampt ...

on its 2011 overseas deployment under the command of Tyson on 11 May 2011. The carrier strike group operated with the

United States Sixth Fleet The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in ...

in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

and the

United States Fifth Fleet The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and headq ...

in the

, with its aircraft flying missions as part of the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

. In an August 1, 2011 ceremony on the ''George Bush'', Tyson was promoted to rear admiral upper half. Former President George H. W. Bush administered the oath of office to Tyson via videolink from

Kennebunkport, Maine Kennebunkport is a resort town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,629 people at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland– Biddeford metropolitan statistical area. The town center, the are ...

. Tyson served as Vice Director of the

beginning in February 2012. In July 2013 she was promoted to vice admiral and named as Deputy Commander,

. In 2015, Tyson was installed as commander of the

, making her the first woman to lead a United States Navy ship fleet. Tyson implemented the '3rd Fleet Forward' initiative announced by CINCPACFLT Admiral Scott Swift, retaining Third Fleet operational control of forces, including a three-ship SAG and

Carrier Strike Group 1 Carrier Strike Group One (CSG-1 or CARSTRKGRU 1) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. is the strike group's current flagship, and other units currently assigned are the ship's Carrier Air Wing 2 and embarked Destroyer Squadron 1, deployed with ' ...

, deployed beyond the hitherto Third Fleet/Seventh Fleet boundary at the International Date Line. She retired on September 18, 2017.

Awards and decorations

References

External links

Official U.S. Navy Biography

Female CSG Commander
– YouTube
"The woman at the helm in the US Navy"
– ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' (June 23, 2011)
"U.S. signals wider engagement in western Pacific"
– ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

'' (October 18, 2015) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyson, Nora W. Living people People from Memphis, Tennessee Vanderbilt University alumni Naval War College alumni Female admirals of the United States Navy United States Naval Flight Officers 1950s births United States Navy admirals

Education

Naval career

Awards and decorations

See also

References

External links