| If you’re interested in sponsoring an exciting new team Red Dragons Tampa in the fastest growing watersport contact sponsor@reddragonstampa.comMore information to follow. |
| Thank you to our sponsor, Rear Admiral (US Navy, retired) Jacob Lawrence Shuford. We’re honored to have your support. Admiral Shuford has held major positions in government requiring the highest standards of leadership and integrity. His professional assignments have yielded senior perspective and expertise in strategic planning; organizational and financial management; defense systems requirements definition, planning and programming; human capital development; national security policy; Joint campaign analysis and naval force planning; national legislative processes; and international relations. Behind his experience is a diverse education that has emphasized public finance, operations research/systems analysis, political science, national security and international affairs. He holds Masters degrees in Public Administration: Finance (Harvard University) and in National Security and Strategic Studies, (with highest distinction, Naval War College). Selected as an Olmsted Scholar (1980-1982), he studied at L’Institut d’Etudes Sciences Politiques, Paris in the framework of the Diplôme des Etudes Approfondies (DEA) in Politics and Economics in International Relations. He received his Bachelors degree in Arts and Letters (cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of South Carolina, where he was commissioned in 1974 from the NROTC program.His initial assignment in the Navy was to USS Blakley (FF 1072) where he served in the operations department. His first assignment ashore was as Operations and Plans Officer for the Commander, Naval Forces Korea. After his Olmsted study in Paris, Shuford went back to sea completing department head tours as Operations Officer in USS Deyo (DD 989) and in USS Mahan (DDG 42), and commanding USS Aries (PHM 5). His first tour in Washington included assignments to the Staff of the Chief of Naval Operations and to the Office of the Secretary of the Navy as speechwriter, Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the Secretary.Rear Admiral Shuford returned to sea in 1992 to command USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60), Battle “E” winner and part of the USS Independence Battle Group, homeported in the western Pacific. He assumed command of USS Gettysburg in January 1998, deploying ten months later to Fifth and Sixth Fleet operating areas as Air Warfare Commander (AWC) for the USS Enterprise Battle Group. Gettysburg played a prominent role in operations in the Adriatic during the Kosovo crisis and in the Arabian Gulf during Operation Desert Fox, acting as AWC for dual carrier battle group operations (Carl Vinson and Enterprise Battle Group) and successfully firing 100% of the 69 Tomahawk missiles tasked during strike operations. The ship was awarded the Battle Efficiency “E” for Cruiser Destroyer Group 12. Returning to the Pentagon and the Navy Staff (N86), he directed the Surface Combatant Force Level Study (SCFLS), establishing numbers and types of combatant ships required by the Navy. Following this task, he was assigned to the Plans and Policy Division (N3/N5) as Chief of Staff for the Navy’s Roles and Missions Organization, coordinating and defending the Navy’s positions in response to the national-level Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Services (CORM). His sequential Pentagon tour was as a Division Chief in J8 — the Force Structure, Resources and Assessments Directorate of the Joint Staff — where he worked Joint Warfighting requirement issues, primarily in the Theater Air and Missile Defense mission area. His most recent Washington assignment was to the Office of Legislative Affairs as Director of Senate Liaison. In October 2001 he assumed duties as Assistant Commander Navy Personnel Command for Distribution (the Navy’s Head Detailer). Responsible for the assignment of more than 370,000 Navy men and women, Rear Admiral Shuford played a lead role in the conceptual development and initial implementation of Project Sea Warrior — the Navy’s bold initiative to radically transform the Manpower, Personnel and Training system and create a world-leading, integrated Human Resources system. In August 2003 he assumed command of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and served as THIRD Fleet’s Syndicate Lead and Operational Agent for Theater Air and Missile Defense. Appointed as the 51st President of the Naval War College in August 2004, Admiral Shuford brought the College to an historical level of National and International pre-eminence, conceiving and executing the first major restructuring of curricula since the 1970s. He brought the College back into the main line of advance for operation and strategic analysis. During his tenure he established the Chinese Maritime Studies Institute; created four major new academic programs; increased residential enrollment by 35%, faculty size from 214 to 301, off-campus enrollment by 45%; international program funding by 60%; and over-all operating funding by 45%. Admiral Shuford played a leading role in developing and executing the analytic approach that produced A Cooperative Strategy for the 21st Century, the United States’ new maritime strategy. His personal awards include the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (five awards), the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal (three awards), the Navy Commendation Medal (three awards), and the Navy Achievement Medal. Civilian honors include the 2008 Distinguished Alumnus Achievement Award and the 2004 Distinguished Honors Alumnus Award from the University of South Carolina, selection as the University of New Haven’s 2006 Distinguished Bartells Fellow, and the award of The Order of the Palmetto (2001). Admiral Shuford has published a number of articles in U.S. and international professional military journals on subjects including strategic logistics, technology cooperation, command and control, human capital development, and leadership. He has lectured in India, England, Oman, Chile, Argentina, UAE, Brazil, Japan and Uruguay. |
