Victor G. Guillory 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 ...

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

who, in his last position, served as the Commander,

United States Fourth Fleet The U.S. Fourth Fleet is a United States Navy numbered fleet. It is the Naval Component Command of U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM). The Fourth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida. It is responsible for ...

Early life and career

Guillory was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. He graduated from Holy Cross School in 1973 and went on to graduate 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 ...

in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science in Management and Technology. His early sea assignments were aboard the

guided-missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

, the guided-missile

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

, the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

and as the commissioning executive officer in the cruiser . He commanded the guided-missile frigate and the cruiser . Ashore, Guillory's assignments included a brief recruiting tour in his hometown of New Orleans and several Washington-area assignments including the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations as the Surface Warfare Division branch head for Combat Systems, and as the assistant deputy director for Surface Ships. He also served in the Joint Staff as the J-3, Current Readiness branch chief.

Flag officer

Guillory was selected for

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countr ...

rank in early 2004 and assumed command of Amphibious Force,

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 ...

and Amphibious Group 1/

Expeditionary Strike Group In the United States Navy, the expeditionary strike group (ESG) is a coordinated group of surface ships, aircraft, submarines, and other naval assets. In contrast to carrier strike groups (CSGs), which emphasize air power and are led by a super ...

7 in October 2004. During this tour, he was responsible for Joint and Combined amphibious operations throughout the Western Pacific. In addition, he served as the deputy commander of United States Naval Forces for Combined Support Force 535 (Southeast Asia Tsunami Relief Operations) in early 2005. In December 2006, Guillory returned to Washington D.C. and the Office of the

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...

as the deputy director of Surface Warfare (OPNAV N86B). He assumed the duties as director of Surface Warfare in October 2007 and the responsibility for the warfighting requirements and resources for all surface combatant ships and combat systems. In June 2009, Guillory was selected to assume command of United States Naval Forces Southern Command/

. Guillory is a graduate of the

National Defense University The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...

(Industrial College of the Armed Forces) and he is also the 2009 recipient of the Black Engineer of the Year Award for Leadership.

Combat service

While assigned to USS ''Vincennes'', Guillory served in the capacity as the Operations department officer with duties as

Tactical Action Officer Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tact ...

(TAO) during

general quarters General quarters, battle stations, or action stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the arme ...

. Guillory was seated next to Captain Will C. Rogers III in

Combat Information Center A combat information center (CIC) or action information centre (AIC) is a room in a warship or AWACS aircraft that functions as a tactical center and provides processed information for command and control of the near battlespace or area of op ...

and played a significant role in the gun battle with surface combatant vessels of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG) and the subsequent actions against

Iran Air Flight 655 Iran Air Flight 655 was a scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai via Bandar Abbas that was shot down on 3July 1988 by two SM-2MR surface-to-air missiles fired by the , a Cruiser#US cruiser development, guided-missile cruiser of the Unit ...

on July 3, 1988.

Awards

Guillory's awards include:

References

''This article contains information from the

and is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

.''
Official United States Navy Biography

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guillory, Victor G. Living people Recipients of the Legion of Merit African-American United States Navy personnel United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy rear admirals (upper half) People from New Orleans Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people