Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Scott Ray Van Buskirk,外国人叙勲受章者名簿　平成23年
日本国外務省（Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs）. is a retired

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

officer who was the 56th

Chief of Naval Personnel The Chief of Naval Personnel (CNP) is responsible for overall personnel readiness and manpower allocation for the United States Navy. The CNP serves in an additional duty capacity as the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Personnel, Manpower, ...

. He served as the CNP from October 2011 to August 2013. He was succeeded by Vice Admiral William F. Moran and retired after 34 years of service. He is one of only two submarine officers to have commanded a carrier strike group.

Biography

A native of

Petaluma, California Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, Van Buskirk graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in 1979. He assumed duties as the Navy's 56th Chief of Naval Personnel on Oct. 11, 2011. His responsibilities include overseeing the

United States Navy Recruiting Command The United States Navy Recruiting Command (NRC or NAVCRUITCOM) is located in Millington, Tennessee. It aims to recruit both enlisted sailors and prospective commissioned officers for the United States Navy. NRC covers the entire United States wi ...

, Navy Personnel Command, and

Naval Education and Training Command The Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) is an enterprise-level shore command (military formation), command of the United States Navy with more than 19,000 military and staff personnel at more than 1,640 subordinate activities, sites, dis ...

. Van Buskirk received a master's degree from the

Naval Postgraduate School Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...

and served tours in the Navy Office of Legislative Affairs; Submarine Force U.S. Pacific Fleet; Bureau of Naval Personnel; and, Submarine Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet. At sea, he served on board , , , and Gold Crew, and commanded the and Submarine Development Squadron 12. As a flag officer, he has served as commander, Task Force Total Force; deputy to the Deputy Chief of Staff, Strategic Effects (MNF-Iraq); commander,

Carrier Strike Group Nine Carrier Strike Group 9 (CSG-9 or CARSTRKGRU 9) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. Commander Carrier Strike Group 9 (COMCARSTRKGRU 9 or CCSG 9) is responsible for unit-level training, integrated training, and material readiness for the ships an ...

; assistant deputy, Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans and Strategy (N3/N5B); deputy commander and chief of staff, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Van Buskirk served as the 47th commander of 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 the ...

, forward deployed in Yokosuka, Japan, in 2010 and 2011. He commanded U.S. naval forces during

Operation Tomodachi was a United States Armed Forces (especially United States Forces Japan, U.S. Forces Japan) assistance operation to support Japan in Emergency management, disaster relief following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The operation took pl ...

, providing assistance to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

following the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

Awards and decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Buskirk, Scott R. Van Living people Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy admirals 1959 births