Kelechi Ndukwe, a U.S. Navy Commander makes Nigeria proud as he becomes the first Nigerian and Nigerian-American to take command of a U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer, USS HALSEY (DDG-97). Commander Kelechi Ndukwe will officially take over on the 2nd of April 2021.
This new feat in our history will sharpen the expectations of younger and future generations of Nigerian descent in the diaspora. It will also open Nigerians within and out of the country to several opportunities and successes that could be achieved in the Navy, ranging from Naval Aviator, Submarine Warfare, Integrated Weapons Systems, Scientists, Medicine, Pharmacist, Nursing, engineering, Nuclear Propulsion and more.
Commander Kelechi is a U.S. Navy Officer serving on the Joint Staff in the Force Structure, Resource, and Assessment Directorate. As a Surface Warfare Officer, Commander Kelechi has served on multiple warships which include destroyers, cruisers and mine countermeasures, with extensive deployments to the Mediterranean Sea, Horn of Africa, Arabian Gulf, Western Pacific Ocean, and South America.
At sea, Commander Kelechi qualified as Surface Warfare Officer aboard USS THORN (DD-988), where he served as Auxiliaries Mechanical Engineering Officer; USS NORMANDY (CG-60) as Fire-Missile Control Officer; Forward Deployed to Yokosuka, Japan aboard USS FITZGERALD (DDG-62) as Weapons Launching and Combat Systems Officer; Executive and Commanding Officer of USS DEVASTATOR (MCM-6), a minesweeper based in Bahrain; and most recently as the Executive Officer, USS HALSEY (DGG-97) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
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