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 rega ...

Cedric E. Pringle (born c. 1964) 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 ...

officer and career

Surface Warfare Officer The surface warfare insignia is a military badge of the United States Navy which is issued to U.S. Navy personnel who are trained and qualified to perform duties aboard United States surface warships. There are presently four classes of the surf ...

who served as the 31st Commandant of the

National War College The National War College (NWC) of the United States is a school in the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National War Co ...

. He served in this position from October 16, 2019 until July 2021, when he relinquished command to Air Force

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

Jeffrey H. Hurlbert. As the commandant, Pringle was responsible for formulating academic policies, supervising curriculum planning, preparation, and ensuring excellence in classroom teaching. Prior to serving as Commandant, Pringle served as Commander,

Expeditionary Strike Group 3 Expeditionary Strike Group 3 is an expeditionary strike group (ESG) of the U.S. Navy. Expeditionary strike groups combine the capabilities of surface action groups, submarines, and maritime patrol aircraft with those of Amphibious Ready Groups f ...

, from December 2017 to September 2019.

Early life and education

Pringle graduated from the University of South Carolina in December 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and received his commission through

Navy ROTC The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Origins A pilot Naval Reserve unit was established in September 192 ...

. He also earned a Master of Science in Financial Management from the

Naval Postgraduate School The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. It offers master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to the U.S. Armed Forces, DOD ci ...

in 1998 and a Master of Arts in National Security Strategy from the

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 associ ...

in 2003.

Military career

At sea, he served in the engineering department onboard

USS Ranger (CV-61) The seventh USS ''Ranger'' (CV/CVA-61) was the third of four supercarriers built for the United States Navy in the 1950s. Although all four ships of the class were completed with Flight deck#Angled flight deck, angled decks, ''Ranger'' had the ...

and

USS Portland (LSD-37) The second USS ''Portland'' was a US Navy ''Anchorage'' class dock landing ship built at General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division at Quincy, Massachusetts, and commissioned in 1970. ''Portland'' was decommissioned in 2003 and stricken fro ...

and as executive officer on USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43). In July 2004, he assumed command of

USS Whidbey Island (LSD-41) USS ''Whidbey Island'' (LSD-41) is a (LSD) of the United States Navy. She was named for Whidbey Island, in Puget Sound, Washington, the location of NAS Whidbey Island; the name ultimately derives from the sailor, explorer and engineer Joseph Wh ...

. During his tour, he participated in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in response to Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. In February 2012, he took command of the Navy’s first hybrid propulsion drive ship,

USS Makin Island (LHD-8) USS ''Makin Island'' (LHD-8), a , is the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Butaritari, Makin Island, target of the Marine Raiders' Makin Island raid early on in the United States' involvement in World War II. ''Makin Island' ...

. During his tenure, Makin Island completed its maiden deployment and achieved numerous successes, including earning the Battle “E” Award, the Retention Excellence Award, Afloat and Aviation Operational Safety Awards and the President’s Volunteer Service Award for community outreach. Ashore, he served on various staffs up to and including on the Joint Staff Force Structure, Resources and Assessment Directorate (J8). He also served as director, Navy Senate Liaison for the Secretary of the Navy’s Office of Legislative Affairs. From September 2015 to November 2017, he served as deputy director of

Joint Interagency Task Force South Joint Interagency Task Force South is a United States multiservice, multiagency task force based at Naval Air Station Key West (Truman Annex), Key West, Florida. It conducts counter illicit trafficking operations, intelligence fusion and multi-s ...

. During this tour, he also volunteered to serve as commander, Joint Task Force Matthew, leading relief and recovery efforts in Haiti following Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. From December 2017 to September 2019, he served as commander,

, the Navy's largest Strike Group that is composed of 15 ships, 31 subordinate commands, and 15,000 Sailors and Marines. During his tenure, ESG3 led the first-ever Arctic Expeditionary Capabilities Exercise as a Littoral Combat Force headquarters, orchestrating simultaneous operations across 2.2 million square miles, ranging from

Adak Adak may refer to: Places *Adak Island, one of the Aleutian Islands ** Adak, Alaska, a town on the above island ** Adak Airport, airport serving the town ***Adak Army Airfield, original name of the airport (1942–c.1943) *** Davis Army Airfield, ...

, Alaska to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, California. Pringle assumed command as the 31st commandant of

on 16 October 2019. Pringle is the recipient of the 2015 Navy’s Stars and Stripes Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pringle, Cedric E. 1960s births Year of birth uncertain Living people African-American United States Navy personnel United States Navy admirals United States Navy 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people