Phillip Grayson Sawyer (born 1961) is a retired vice admiral in the

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 ...

, who served as the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans and Strategy from October 10, 2019 to August 6, 2021. He previously served as commander for

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

and

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

, and commander of

United States Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

, stationed at Japan. Sawyer also served as a commander of Submarine Force,

United States Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

and commander of

Task Force 74 Task Force 74 was a naval task force that has existed twice. The first Task Force 74 was a mixed Allied force of Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, and United States Navy ships which operated against Japanese forces from 1943 to 1945 during the ...

/54. As a deputy commander, he served United States Pacific Fleet, and as commander of Seventh Fleet.

Education

Sawyer was born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. In 1983, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in

Systems Engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering util ...

from the

United States 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 ...

. Later, he received a master’s degree in

Engineering Management Engineering management is the application of the practice of management to the practice of engineering. Engineering management is a career that brings together the technological problem-solving ability of engineering and the organizational, admini ...

from

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia with ...

Naval career

As a career submarine officer, Sawyer was a division officer aboard , and an engineering officer aboard . He also served as an executive officer of a Los Angeles-class submarine . Later, he was assigned to command another Los Angeles-class submarine at

Submarine Squadron A submarine squadron (SUBRON) is a naval formation or unit in such states such as the United Kingdom, United States, and Russia/Soviet Union. In France the equivalent unit is the ' (ESNA), part of the French submarine forces (and before the Second ...

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

when Sawyer was appointed to

senior officer present afloat Senior Officer Present Afloat, usually referred to as SOPA, is a U.S. Navy term to indicate the U.S. Navy officer, with the highest ranking by rank, or number in rank, present in a harbor occupied by more than one U.S. Navy vessel. That officer is e ...

. On shore, Sawyer was appointed to branch chief in

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 ...

for anti-terrorism and force protection. He was also appointed deputy director for operations at COMPACFLT and executive assistant to the vice commander-in-chief for Pacific Fleet. Later, he served at the

Bureau of Naval Personnel 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 ...

as a placement officer and assistant captain detailer. Sawyer was later appointed to Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center, Atlantic, where he served as an instructor. He was later appointed to the office of

United States Strategic Command United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear deterr ...

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

for special activities and for submarine force Atlantic. He is slated to retire at the end of 2021.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sawyer, Phillip 1961 births Living people People from Phoenix, Arizona United States Naval Academy alumni Military personnel from Phoenix, Arizona Old Dominion University alumni United States submarine commanders Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Navy vice admirals Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal