Terry B. Kraft is a retired

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

of the

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 ...

, formerly commanding the U.S. Naval Forces Japan. He is a Naval Flight Officer whose previous commands include Electronic Attack Squadron 131 (VAQ-131), , and . He was one of several senior officers implicated in the Fat Leonard scandal.

Education

Kraft is a 1981 graduate of 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 ...

; he earned a master's degree in political science from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

and is a graduate of the Navy

Nuclear Power School The Nuclear Power School (NPS) is a technical training institution operated by the United States Navy in Goose Creek, South Carolina. It serves as a core component of the Navy’s program to prepare enlisted sailors, officers, and civilians emplo ...

. He was a federal executive fellow at

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(1999–2000).

Career

Kraft's sea duty tours include the following: * Attack Squadron (VA) 55 embarked in , *VA-115 embarked in , and *VA-95 embarked in . He also served as executive officer on . During those tours, he participated in Operations El Dorado Canyon,

Desert Storm , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

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 ...

(OIF) and

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 ...

(OEF). Kraft commanded Electronic Attack Squadron 131, Amphibious Transport Dock , the aircraft carrier , and the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group (CSG-12). He participated in both OIF and OEF during all four tours. He assumed command of Navy Warfare Development Command in October 2011. Shore tours for Kraft have included duty in VA-128,

Air Command and Staff College The Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) is located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama and is the United States Air Force's intermediate-level Professional Military Education (PME) school. It is a subordinate command of the Air Un ...

, Current Operations Directorate (J31),

U.S. Pacific Command The United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) is the unified combatant command of the United States Armed Forces responsible for the Indo-Pacific region. It is the oldest and largest of the unified combatant commands. Its commander, ...

, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, Massachusetts. After flag selection, he reported to

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

, Chief of Naval Operations staff, first in N88 as head of Maritime Aviation, Unmanned Aerial Systems and Aviation Training Plans and Programs, then in N2/N6 as director, ISR Capabilities. Kraft had over 3700 hours and 1000 carrier arrested landings in the A-6E,

EA-6B 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-6 I ...

and

F/A-18 The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...

F aircraft.

Corruption scandal

Kraft was implicated in a wide-ranging corruption scandal known as the " Fat Leonard scandal." Kraft and other high-ranking officials were censured for their conduct during the 2006 deployment of the USS ''Ronald Reagan''. The Navy said the officers showed "very poor judgement and leadership regarding

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

relationship with Mr. Leonard Francis, the president of Glenn Defense Marine Asia." Further statements from the Navy stated that Kraft merely underpaid after attending dinner parties. Although the Navy eventually referred the cases to the Justice Department, legal action was not pursued due to the statute of limitations.

Retirement

In July 2015, he was forced to retire after 34 years of service. After retiring from the Navy, Kraft worked at

General Atomics General Atomics (GA) is an American energy and defense corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, that specializes in research and technology development. This includes physics research in support of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion en ...

from 2015 to 2023 in senior leadership and management positions. As of 2023, he is the CEO of the USS ''Midway'' Museum.

Awards and decorations

As of 2015, Kraft is authorized to wear the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

with four gold stars, Distinguished Flying Cross (with

combat V Combat (French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is resorted to either as a method of s ...

), the

Defense Meritorious Service Medal The Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) is an award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense. In the order of precedence of the United States Armed Forces, it is worn between the Purple ...

, the

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: Singapore *Pingat Jasa Gemilang, or Meritorious Services Me ...

with two gold stars and multiple individual and strike-flight

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraft, Terry United States Navy admirals Living people United States Naval Academy alumni Auburn University alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Legion of Merit 1961 births