Craig A. "Clap" Clapperton (born 1967) is a

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 ...

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 ...

and Naval Flight Officer who serves as the commander of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and the

United States Tenth Fleet The U.S. Tenth Fleet is a functional formation and a numbered fleet in the United States Navy. It was first created as a global anti-submarine warfare coordinating organization under the singular authority of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet ...

since 4 August 2022. He most recently served as the commander of Combined Joint Task Force, Cyber from 30 June 2021 to 7 June 2022. He previously served as commander of Carrier Strike Group 12 from 7 May 2020 to 17 June 2021. He was also deputy director of operations of

United States Cyber Command United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It unifies the direction of cyberspace operations, strengthens DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integra ...

, with command tours as commanding officer of the from July 2015 to July 2017 and commanding officer of from November 2012 to July 2014. He also commanded the Shadowhawks of Electronic Attack Squadron 141 (VAQ-141), relinquishing command in September 2007 to Commander Michael D. McKenna. A native of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Clapperton graduated from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering, commissioning via the NROTC program in 1989 and designated as a Naval Flight Officer upon completion of flight training in 1991. He would then go on to fly the

EA-6B Prowler The Northrop Grumman (formerly Grumman) EA-6B Prowler is a twin-engine, four-seat, mid-wing electronic-warfare aircraft. Operated by both the United States Marine Corps and United States Navy between 1971 and 2019, it was derived from the A- ...

in various squadrons. In 2008, he earned an M.A. degree in National Strategy and Security Studies from the

United States 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 ...

(with highest distinction) and was a member of the college's elite Stockdale group. He is also a distinguished graduate of the Navy Nuclear Power Training Command and completed nuclear power training in 2010. He was the 2007 recipient of the Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership. In March 2023, Clapperton was nominated for reappointment as vice admiral, with the addition of Navy Space Command to his assignment.

References

Living people United States Naval Academy alumni Naval War College alumni Military personnel from Pittsburgh Military personnel from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania State University alumni Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Air Medal United States Navy admirals 1967 births {{US-navy-bio-stub