Clear Lake Fire Department to hold 9/11 Memorial Event “NEVER FORGET”
CLEAR LAKE - The Clear Lake Fire Department will be hosting a 9/11 Memorial on Monday September 11th, 2023, outside the Clear Lake Fire station at the World Trade Center Memorial Steel.
CLEAR LAKE – The Clear Lake Fire Department will be hosting a 9/11 Memorial on Monday September 11th, 2023, outside the Clear Lake Fire station at the World Trade Center Memorial Steel. The event will include music by the Clear Lake High School Band, a flag raising ceremony, placement of the helmets ceremony, and a guest speaker. This year’s guest speaker is Captain Stephen Johnson, United States Navy, retired.
Tentative Schedule
6:00 – Music by the High School Band
6:10 – Flag Raising and National Anthem
6:20– Helmet Ceremony
6:30 – Guest Speaker
Guest Speaker: Captain Stephen Johnson:
United States Navy, Retired
Introduction
Captain Stephen Johnson, United States Navy, Retired, grew up not far from here in Rosemount, Minnesota.
Leaving Minnesota for the Illinois Institute of Technology, he embarked on a rather unusual Navy career spanning more than thirty years.
Captain Johnson served in several assignments as a nuclear submarine officer during the cold war and as a department head on surface ships deployed to the Gulf War and to the Bosnian War.
He commanded NATO’s flagship during the Kosovo War and an Aegis Guided Missile Cruiser during the Iraq War. His duties as senior officer afloat during his Iraq deployment included commanding the Northern Persian Gulf Coalition Naval Forces.
Captain Johnson’s next assignment was Chief of Staff of the John F. Kennedy Aircraft Carrier Battle Group. His last operational deployment was a year on the ground in Africa as Deputy Commander of the coalition ground and air forces operating in Yemen and the Horn of Africa.
And 23 years ago today, he was working in the Pentagon – The morning of 11 September 2001.
ACCOMPLISHED INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY LEADER
International Affairs · Operations · Nuclear Engineering · U.S. Government Interagency Expert
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering; Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL.
Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies; Naval War College, Newport, RI.
U.S. Navy Nuclear Power School. Graduate-level study in the fields of nuclear physics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, material science, electrical engineering, radiochemistry, and nuclear power plant operations.
CERTIFICATIONS AND LICENSES
Certified as a Naval Nuclear Engineer by the U.S. Department of Energy following three years of intensive graduate-level study and hands-on training in submarine nuclear propulsion plants.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
THE SJ JOHNSON GROUP, LLC 2009 to PRESENT
Government marketing, contracting and program management consultant.
• Expertly assisted APR Energy, LLC bid on hundreds of millions of dollars of government and military contracts. During this time, APR Energy achievedtremendous growth, tripling revenues in two yearsand achieving a market cap of $855 million in just seven years from the launch of the company.
• Skillfully liaised with local Haitian and international officials to coordinate and lead four earthquake relief flights, transporting dozens of doctors and medical personnel and delivering $2 million of donated medical equipment and supplies in the hours immediately following Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake.
PROFESSOR OF NAVAL SCIENCE, MIAMI UNIVERSITY, OXFORD, OH 2007 TO 2009
University Department Chair and Commanding Officer of Naval ROTC Unit of 100 midshipmen officer candidates.
• Taught undergraduate courses in ethics, leadership, and management.
• Actively engaged local community leaders such as the Cincinnati Urban League and inner-city high school officials to double enrollment and meet the Navy’s and Miami University’s goals for increased diversity.
DEPUTY COMMANDER, COMBINED JOINT TASK FORCE HORN OF AFRICA, DJIBOUTI 2006 TO 2007
Second in Command of 2,500 Coalition Ground, Air Force and Special Operations personnel conducting peacetime and combat operations throughout the Horn of Africa including Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, and Yemen.
• Awarded Defense Superior Service Medal for “Superior meritorious service in a position of significant responsibility” for classified operations in Somalia and Yemen.
• Expertly liaised with senior international diplomats, government officials and military leaders in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Yemen to significantly advance U.S. national security interests.
• Rapidly coordinated, assembled, and personally led a U.S. Government inter-agency relief effort to assist 20,000 victims of flash floods which killed hundreds of people in eastern Ethiopia.
CHIEF OF STAFF, JOHN F. KENNEDY AIRCRAFT CARRIER BATTLE GROUP 2005 TO 2006
Second in Command of an aircraft carrier battle group consisting of 10,000 naval personnel, an aircraft carrier, four guided missile cruisers, seven destroyers and frigates, and five aviation squadrons.
Commanding Officer, USS PHILIPPINE SEA (CG 59) 2003 TO 2005
Significantly improved all facets of the operations, maintenance, and combat employment of 400 personnel onboard a $1billion Aegis Guided Missile Cruiser.
• Persian Gulf Coalition Naval Force Commander. Awarded Legion of Merit for expertly leading a force of nine U.S., Australian, British, and Singaporean warships conducting combat operations in the Persian Gulf during the Iraq War—operations which included the capture of important al Qaeda operatives.
• Expert tactician. Developed and implemented innovative tactics that saved Iraq’s Persian Gulf oil platforms from a coordinated sea-borne suicideattack.
TOMAHAWK MISSILE PROGRAM HEAD 2000 TO 2002
Responsible for all aspects of the Navy’s $1.5 billion Tomahawk missile procurement, operations, and training programs.
• Led a diverse group of international stakeholders to improve every aspect of Tomahawk missile system fleet operations and achieve flawless missile system performance during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
• Foresight, preparedness and successful lobbying efforts overcame intense pressures to reduce defense spending in the years prior to 9-11 and ensured that the Tomahawk missile procurement program was positioned to rapidly double production to meet wartime demands in the months following 9-11attacks.
COMMANDING OFFICER, USS DEYO (DD 989) 1997 TO 1999
Significantly improved all facets of the operations, maintenance, and combat employment of 350 personnel onboard a Spruance Class Destroyer.
• Runner up for the Arleigh Burke Trophy for the most improved ship in the Atlantic Fleet.
• Superb operational performance resulted in DEYO’s assignment to deploy as the NATO Flagship.
• Expertly led NATO’s naval operations during the Kosovo War.
Conducted comprehensive program management of Egyptian Navy foreign military sales of over $1billion.
• Advised the U.S. Ambassador, U.S. Central Command and the Joint Staff on the activities, capabilities, and intentions of the Egyptian military as they affected U.S. national security policy.
• Achieved U.S. Government regional policy objectives through personal relationships with senior leaders of the government of Egypt and the Egyptian armed forces.
U.S. NAVY – NUCLEAR SURFACE FORCE 1989 TO 1994
• Reactor Officer of a nuclear aircraft carrier. Expertly led 450 nuclear engineers operating and maintaining USS Theodore Roosevelt ‘s nuclear propulsion plants during her Bosnian War combat deployment.
• Main Propulsion Assistant. Led USS Theodore Roosevelt’s main propulsion department to a near flawless performance which earned the highest possible grade on the Navy’s nuclear reactor operations inspection—a significant improvement over previous inspections.
• Middle management responsibilities aboard two guided missile frigates during Gulf War deployments.
U.S. NAVY – NUCLEAR SUBMARINE FORCE 1979 to 1988
• Various nuclear submarine junior officer assignments during the Cold War.
• Soviet submarine intelligence analyst at the Office of Naval Intelligence.
• Deployed as the NATO Standing Naval Forces Atlantic Intelligence Officer.
