Gregory N. Todd 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 ...

rear admiral and

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

who serves as the 28th

Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy The Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy (CHC) is the highest-ranking military chaplain in the United States Navy and head of the United States Navy Chaplain Corps. As part of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and Department o ...

. He previously served as the 20th Chaplain of the Marine Corps. He also served for four years as the tenth

Chaplain of the Coast Guard The Chaplain of the United States Coast Guard (COCG) is the senior military chaplain, chaplain of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and is attached to Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building, USCG headquarters in Washington, D.C., a ...

. Over a thirty-two year career, he has served in a variety of Navy,

Marine Corps Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in supp ...

, and

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

assignments, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and chaplaincy work at Ground Zero in the wake of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. He is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Education

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

native, Todd earned a bachelor of arts degree in theology and education from Concordia College in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, in 1984. He received a Master of Divinity degree from

Concordia Seminary Concordia Seminary is a Lutheran seminary in Clayton, Missouri. The institution's primary mission is to train pastors, deaconesses, missionaries, chaplains, and church leaders for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Founded in 1839, t ...

in St. Louis, Missouri, and was ordained as a minister in the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

in 1988. Chaplain Todd later earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in Christian Leadership from the

Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) is an evangelical seminary with its main campus in Hamilton, Massachusetts, and three other campuses in Boston, Massachusetts; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Jacksonville, Florida. According to the Ass ...

in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2009. In 2023, Todd received the Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa) from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.

Career

Todd was commissioned as an Ensign in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

in 1986, providing ministry to Marine Corps Reserve units while concurrently serving as pastor for civilian churches in Illinois. He transferred to active duty in 1994 and served as Protestant chaplain at

Naval Amphibious Base Coronado Naval Amphibious Base Coronado (NAB Coronado) is a US naval installation in San Diego, California. The base, situated on Silver Strand between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is a major United States Navy shore command, supporting over 30 t ...

, California. From 1996 to 1998, Todd was chaplain aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser ''USS Chancellorsville''. Todd served his first tour with the Coast Guard from 1998 to 2002, serving as chaplain at Coast Guard Activities New York. While there, he was the first Navy chaplain to arrive at the World Trade Center site after the

, and hosted a Coast Guard Chaplain Emergency Response Team of thirty Navy chaplains working with the Coast Guard, that ministered to civilians and emergency crews at various locations, including Ground Zero, the family center, and One Police Plaza. He was also part of response teams that responded after the crashes of EgyptAir Flight 990 and

American Airlines Flight 587 American Airlines Flight 587 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, to Las Américas International Airport, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. On November 12, 2001, t ...

. Todd returned to ministry within the Marine Corps in 2002, reporting to the Second Force Service Support Group based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He deployed to Kuwait with the group's Forward Battalion at a part of

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

. In 2004, he deployed to Afghanistan with the

22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU) is one of seven Marine expeditionary unit, such units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. It is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 personnel. They are ...

in support of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

. setting up the ministry at Forward Operating Base Ripley in Afghanistan's Oruzgan Province. In May 2005, he assumed the duties as officer in charge of Marine Corps Chaplain and RP Expeditionary Skills Training (CREST) at Camp Johnson, a post he held until October 2008. He then attended the Senior Supervisory Chaplain Course, after which he reported aboard USS ''Kearsarge'' as command chaplain. Todd returned to the Marine Corps again in July 2010, as chaplain for the

2nd Marine Logistics Group The 2nd Marine Logistics Group (2nd MLG) is a Logistics#Military logistics, logistics unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. 2nd MLG was formerly known as 2nd Force Service S ...

; in this capacity, he led transition and support ministries for Sailors and Marines deploying or redeploying from Afghanistan, and led a chaplain team in Ramstein, Germany supporting Third Location Decompression programs for Explosive Ordnance Disposal Marines, helping to facilitate their transition after a deployment described as "kinetic". In February 2013, he departed 2nd MLG and reported aboard as force chaplain for

II Marine Expeditionary Force The II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force consisting of ground, air and logistics forces capable of projecting offensive combat power ashore while sustaining itself in combat without external assistance for a ...

, leading II MEF's religious program for 50,000-plus Marines, Sailors, and family members. Todd returned for his second tour with the Coast Guard in June 2014, relieving Captain Gary Weeden as

. He was relieved by Captain Thomas Walcott in April 2018. At the end of February 2022, Todd was nominated for promotion to two-star rear admiral and appointment as the next

. Todd subsequently succeeded Brent W. Scott as Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy on 16 March 2022.

Awards and qualifications

Todd's awards include: *He is also qualified as a Master Training Specialist.

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Gregory N. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod people Concordia University (Oregon) alumni Military personnel from Seattle 20th-century American Lutheran clergy United States Navy chaplains Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary alumni Chaplains of the United States Coast Guard United States Navy admirals Chaplains of the United States Marine Corps Chiefs of Chaplains of the United States Navy Concordia Seminary alumni 21st-century American Lutheran clergy