Admiral Robert Joseph Natter 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 ...

admiral who served as Commander, U.S. Atlantic Fleet/Fleet Forces Command from 2000 to 2003.

Military career

Natter was born April 9, 1945, at his home in

Trussville, Alabama Trussville is a city in Jefferson and St. Clair counties in the State of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and part of the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population at the 2020 census was 26,123. Geography Trussv ...

. He enlisted in the

United States Naval 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 Se ...

at the age of 17 as a Seaman Recruit. After one year of enlisted service he was appointed to 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 ...

, and graduated in 1967, receiving a commission as an Ensign. Natter's service at sea included department head tours in a Coastal Minesweeper and Frigate, and Executive Officer tours in two Amphibious Tank Landing Ships and a Spruance Destroyer . He was Officer-in-Charge of a Naval Special Warfare detachment in Vietnam and commanded the , and the

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 ...

.United States Navy bio
Shore assignments included Company Officer and later Flag Secretary to the Superintendent at the United States Naval Academy; Executive Assistant to the Director of Naval Warfare in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV); staff member for the House Armed Services Committee of the 100th Congress of the United States; Executive Assistant to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet; Executive Assistant to the Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, during

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

; Assistant Chief of Naval Personnel for officer and enlisted personnel assignments; Chief on the Navy's Legislative Affairs organization; Director for Space, Information Warfare, Command and Control (OPNAV N6); and the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Plans, Policy and Operations (OPNAV N3/N5). Natter was a distinguished graduate of the

U.S. 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 associa ...

and has master's degrees in both Business Management and International Relations. In May 2000, he was awarded the

Naval War College Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award The Naval War College Distinguished Graduate leadership Award was established in 1996 by the Trustees of the Naval War College Foundation to honor United States Naval War College graduates who have attained positions of prominence in the field of n ...

Awards and honors

Other honors include in 1998 the Order of the Rising Sun from the Emperor of Japan, the 1998

Order of National Security Merit The Order of National Security Merit (Hangul: 보국훈장) is one of South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land b ...

from the Republic of Korea, the 2003

Ellis Island Medal of Honor The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is an American award founded by the Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) (formerly known as the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO)), which is presented annually to American citizens, both native-born ...

, the 2003 Ted Williams Military Achievement Award, and the 2004 Naval Order of the United States Distinguished Sea Service Award. He retired from the Navy in 2003.

Post military

Natter joined the board of directors of

United Defense Industries United Defense Industries (UDI) was an American defense contractor which became part of BAE Systems Land & Armaments after being acquired by BAE Systems in 2005. The company produced combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns, missile launchers and ...

in 2004. He is also President of R.J. Natter & Associates, LLC, a consulting firm; serves on the McDonald's Corporation Advisory Board; and is a Non-Executive Director of Novonix Limited which develops, manufactures and sells the worlds most accurate high precision battery cell testing equipment and graphite materials for the lithium ion battery (LIB) industry; served as Chairman of the United States Naval Academy's Distinguished Graduate Selection Committee; and in May, 2012 became Chairman, Naval Academy Alumni Association's national Board of Trustees. He was one of the Naval Academy's 2019 Distinguished Graduate selections.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natter, Robert J. 1945 births Living people People from Trussville, Alabama United States Navy admirals United States Naval Academy alumni Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal