Morton native rear admiral takes command of carrier strike group
NORFOLK, VA. » A Delaware County native took command of a carrier strike group in a ceremony aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike) in Norfolk, Va. July 13.
Rear Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr., a Cardinal O’Hara High School graduate, became commander of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 10, known as the Eisenhower CSG, as friends and family who traveled from Delaware County observed the ceremony in the ship’s hangar bay.
Paparo is honored and humbled to take command of one of the Navy’s greatest strike groups.
“I am grateful to all the family, friends, teachers, leaders, and fellow servicemen without whom I would not be taking command of this iconic strike group,” said Paparo. be back on the tip of “To the spear and leading such brave and accomplished warriors is a great honor.”
CSG commanders are part of an elite group with only eleven aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy, and Paparo is responsible for the unit-level and integrated training, operational and material readiness and administrative functions for approximately 7,000 Sailors, ships and squadrons assigned to the group.
CSG-10 is comprised of Ike, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3, the guided-missile cruisers USS San Jacinto (CG 56) and USS Monterey (CG 61), Destroyer Squadron 26 and its associated guided-missile destroyers USS Stout (DDG 55), USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79), USS Roosevelt (DDG 80), USS Mason (DDG 87) and USS Nitze (DDG 94).
CVW-3 consists of the “Fighting Swordsmen” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 32, the “Sidewinders” of VFA-86, the “Gunslingers” of VFA-105, the “Wildcats” of VFA-131, the “Dusty Dogs” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 7, the “Swamp Foxes” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 74, the “Screwtops” of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 123, and the “Zappers” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 130.
Paparo, a native of Morton, graduated from Villanova University and was commissioned at Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Fla., in 1987. He holds a Master of Arts in International Studies from Old Dominion University and a Master of Science in Systems Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School. He is also a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College, the Air War College, the Naval War College and the Joint and Combined Warfighting School.
He is a TOPGUN graduate and has flown over 6,000 hours in the F-14, F-15 and F/A-18 and 1,100 carrier landings.
Paparo’s operational command tours include Strike Fighter Squadron 195 in the Forward Deployed Naval Forces, Yokosuka, Japan, deploying in Kitty Hawk Strike Group and Commander, Carrier Air Wing 7, embarked in Dwight D. Eisenhower Strike Group for combat operations supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. He also commanded Provincial Reconstruction Team, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, executing counter-insurgency operations in eastern Afghanistan with the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Other operational assignments include Fighter Squadron 14, flying the F-14 Tomcat during deployed operations in the Middle East and Balkans with John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower Strike Groups, Strike Fighter Squadron 15, flying the F/A-18 Hornet during deployed operations in Afghanistan with Theodore Roosevelt and Enterprise Strike Groups, and joint service with the U.S. Air Force flying the F-15C Eagle with the 71st Fighter Squadron.
His shore assignments include the staff of Commander, Naval Air Forces, as F/A-18 Training, Readiness and Requirements Officer, Commanding Officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 106, Programming Division (OPNAV N80) Branch Head, Strategy and Resource and Requirements Review Board Branch, Navy Corporate Fellow in Corporate Strategy at Lockheed Martin and Battle Director at the Combined Air and Space Operations Center, Al Udeid, Qatar. Executive staff tours include service as Executive Assistant to Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command and Executive Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations.