Decorated NFO tapped for Naval Academy's top post

The Naval Academy’s incoming plebe class won’t be the only newbies this year.

Rear Adm. Ted Carter Jr. has been tapped to come aboard as the school’s superintendent, a position that comes with a third star, the Defense Department announced Friday.

Carter, a 1981 academy graduate and highly decorated flier, is serving as the president of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

Carter graduated from the Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as Top Gun, in 1985 and went on to multiple squadron assignments. He has commanded Strike Fighter Squadron 14, the combat support ship Camden and the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, and was the last boss of the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group.

Carter, call sign “Slapshot,” accumulated 6,150 flight hours during his career, according to his official bio, including 125 combat missions in three theaters of operation. He also holds the all-time record for most carrier landings, at 2,016 — 128 more than the previous record holder.

During his 33-year career, Carter has received the Distinguished Flying Cross with “V” device for valor; the Bronze Star Medal; seven Air Medals, including tow with valor devices; and many other personal and campaign awards. He’s a recipient of the Stockdale Leadership Award, the Navy’s top leadership prize for commanding officers.

If confirmed, Carter would replace outgoing supe Vice Adm. Michael Miller, who has been a driving force behind adding cyberwarfare to the academy’s curriculum and the building a state-of-the-art cyber center on campus.

Miller also returned a sense of normalcy to the yard after his predecessor was removed months early after government watchdogsuncovered a pattern of lavish spending and an off-the-books slush fund maintained by academy officials.

However, Miller also came under scrutiny for pushing a shaky sexual assault investigation to court-martial, attorneys on both sides of the case said. Of three originally accused midshipmen, only one went to trial in 2014 and was acquitted of sexual assault charges.