SPEAKER -US Navy Captain Richard Henderson
Posted
on Jul 30, 2015
Our speaker was one of our own Rotarians, US Navy Captain Richard Henderson. In answer as to what was next in his life, he chose to serve overseas as the Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer Assisting in the Middle East for the US Navy.
This position gave him the responsibility of overseeing 950 Navy personnel mobilized throughout the Middle East (one year active duty tour that ended in May 2015.) Responsible for six separate headquarters, located in Bahrain, Afghanistan (2), Qatar, Kuwait and Germany. 55 direct-reporting subordinates. $95 million operation. High-stress program management under oftentimes hostile conditions.
His year started with three weeks of combat refresher training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Which included receiving a ton of gear for his mission, shooting, range, and Humvee machine gun training.
His responsibilities included the guided draw-down of Navy mobilized footprint and headquarters consolidation to achieve mandated force reduction in the Afghanistan theater and to oversee planning and execution of Dept. of Defense programs.
During his year he achieved over 50,000 miles in travel visiting personnel in the field, including multiple trips throughout Afghanistan, with extensive speaking and networking engagements.
Captain Henderson was Awarded Legion of Merit and Afghanistan Campaign Medals for his service in direct support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, the liberation of Afghanistan.