Ndukwe, who previously made history as the first Nigerian-American to command a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Halsey (DDG-97).
Nigerian-American naval officer Captain Kelechi Ndukwe has been appointed Commodore of Destroyer Squadron 60 and Task Force 65, headquartered in Rota, Spain.
Ndukwe, who previously made history as the first Nigerian-American to command a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Halsey (DDG-97).
The announcement was made on Friday in a post shared on X by U.S. Mission Nigeria, which described Ndukwe’s journey as pure inspiration and a true example of #AmericanExcellence.
“Meet Commodore Kelechi Ndukwe, a Nigerian-American making history in the @USNavy!
“From commanding the USS Halsey as the first Nigerian-American to lead a guided-missile destroyer to now serving as Commodore of Destroyer Squadron 60 & Task Force 65 in Spain, his journey is pure inspiration and a true example of #AmericanExcellence!” it said.
On August 30, 2024, SaharaReporters reported that Ndukwe had been promoted to the rank of Navy Captain.
Earlier in his career, he served as the fire control officer aboard the USS Normandy in Norfolk from 2004 to 2006 and as the auxiliaries’ officer on the USS Thorn, also in Norfolk, from 2003 to 2004.
A 2002 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Ndukwe has also worked in the office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), the highest-ranking military position in the United States.
In 2021, Kelechi Ndukwe assumed command of the USS Halsey (DDG-97), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer. Before succeeding DeVere J. Crooks, who had led the ship since November 2019, Ndukwe served as the executive officer.
The USS Halsey (DDG-97) is not Ndukwe’s first command. From 2013 to 2015, the chemical engineering graduate was the commanding officer of the USS Devastator (MCM 6), a minesweeper based in Bahrain.
The new position marks the pinnacle of his more than 20-year career in the US Navy, which began in 2003 as an auxiliaries’ officer. This was a year after he earned a master’s degree in national security and strategy studies from the US Naval War College.
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