Vice A d miral M elvin W illiams Jr., com mander,
US Second Fleet renders a salute aboard the
USS Nassau in O ctober 2008
Photo by US Nav y
Williams turned on the television. “Like many Americans,” Williams graduated from the Naval Academy in 1978 with
he recalls, “we were unsure what was happening when the fi rst a major in mathematics, and completed training in the rigorous
plane hit the tower,” he said. “I knew after the second plane hit nuclear propulsion program. Then he began his climb through
the World Trade Center that we would need to get underway.” the ranks. He would serve on four submarines before moving
Within days the Kitty Hawk, with sixty aircraft, 5,000 Marines onto surface craft such as the Kitty Hawk.
and escort ships, throttled at high speed for the North Arabian
In February 2003, Capt. Melvin Williams, Jr., was pro-
Sea, where it launched Pentagon-approved strikes against the
moted to the rank of rear admiral (lower half) and appointed
Taliban in Afghanistan.
rear admiral (upper half) later that year. Williams served as
It was the second combat mission for Williams in about the director of global operations, US Strategic Command,
a decade. As second in command of the USS Louisville, a fast responsible for maintaining full-spectrum capabilities to meet
attack submarine based in San Diego, they received orders to deterrent and decisive national security needs. He commanded
participate in Operation Desert Storm, the fi rst war with Iraq. Submarine Group 9, where he was responsible for 12 subma-
From the waters of the Red Sea, the USS Louisville became the rines and 24 commands, before serving as deputy commander
fi rst submarine in history to launch tomahawk cruise missiles in of the US Fleet Forces Command. He was reappointed to three
combat when it fi red against land-based Iraqi targets. star rank in August 2008 to serve as commander, US Second
Williams’ combat service was a continuation of a family
Fleet, his current position. The fl eet is comprised of more than
tradition on the high seas. Sixty years ago, his father, Melvin
100 ships, including four aircraft carrier battle groups, and
G. Williams, Sr. joined the US Navy as an enlisted sailor in the
operates throughout the western Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico
submarine force shortly after President Harry Truman banned
and the Caribbean.
race discrimination in the military. But it would be decades Williams current post is charged with ensuring the Navy
before attitudes — as in the rest of American society — would has the right capabilities. “We are involved in experimentation
catch up with the law. Williams Sr. would retire as the com- and looking at technologies and capabilities, rather than just
mand master chief of USS Piedmont, a destroyer tender home- the numbers we may need.”
ported in Norfolk, Va. This assignment was after serving as the
In addition, Admiral Williams is director of the Combined
head of the secretary of the Navy and chief of Naval operations’
Joint Operations for the Sea Center of Excellence — a coalition
mess for Admirals Elmo Zumwalt and James L. Holloway III,
of 13 sponsoring nations. “It is an organization that NATO
1970-1976.
[North Atlantic Treaty Organization] nations sponsor to work
Williams says he has enjoyed opportunities that his father together and improve the operations of thirteen nations’ naval
never had. “But through his hard work and positive attitude, forces,” he says. “We plan and conduct joint operations where
he was able to make it to the highest rank you could achieve on you have large numbers of ships at sea, and may have armies,
the enlisted side. I met many of his friends and they possessed marines or other forces which can operate independently from
the same positive attitude. They had elected to serve despite the a sea base to infl uence events on short.”
diffi culties.”
In addition to running the fl eet, Admiral Williams leads
Talks with his father and his peers kept Williams steered development of next-generation maritime forces. “We are try-
towards life on the high seas. [Editor’s note: Previously, Wil- ing to determine just what the right capabilities will be,” he
liams told Black Engineer that when he saw his fi rst submarine says.
as a third grader, he became hooked on the Navy.]
Refl ecting on a society, which, 30 years earlier, denied
In time, he says he also perceived the prospect of improved black men like his father entry to the military’s defense map-
opportunities. “That was a mix that helped me make my deci- ping, Admiral Williams says: “This brings it full circle. Just
sion. I chose to go with the Navy because I liked what I saw,” making a contribution to shape the future is an honor and a
he says. privilege.”
http://www.blackengineer.com
USBE & Information Technology I WINTER 2008 17
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