(Tribune News Service) — Vice Adm. Yvette Davids became the 65th superintendent and first woman to fill that role for the United States Naval Academy Thursday at a change of command ceremony at Memorial Hall.

Davids was first nominated to be the new superintendent of the service academy in April. She replaces acting Superintendent Rear Adm. Fred Kacher who took over in an interim role following the retirement of Vice Adm. Sean Buck. Buck’s four-year term ended this summer.

In her address to more than 350 attendees, she recalled the class of 1980, the first at the academy to allow women.

“They were the trailblazers that sailed over benchmarked waters and set a path for women in the Naval Academy to follow,” said Davids, a 1989 graduate.  “I’m grateful for their courage, knowledge and support throughout my service.”

Davids’ appointment and that of more than 300 other high-ranking military officials, was held up for nearly eight months in Congress by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, of Alabama. Tuberville, the former Auburn football coach, said he blocked the appointments to protest a Pentagon policy that provides leave and travel expenses for military personnel who must travel out of state to obtain an abortion or other reproductive care. He eventually relented in early December.

Kacher, who graduated from the academy in 1990, served as the 64th superintendent for just five months. For his efforts, he was given a gold star for exceptional meritorious effort. He joked that this was his ninth semester at the academy during his farewell address to the nearly 350 attendees, which included Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen.

“I cannot be more proud of what you have accomplished, but I am even more excited with you now at the helm of our alma mater,” said Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Chief of Naval Operations. “There are new, challenging and multifaceted threats that require leaders. Leaders who are prepared to be bold.  Leaders who can help preserve the peace and respond in crisis. Thank you Adm. Kacher for stepping in and congratulations Rear Adm. Davids.”

After Davids graduated from the academy, she commanded several U.S. warships as well as a carrier strike group. Davids’ Navy career began during Operation Desert Storm, when she served as an electrical officer, combat information center officer and communications officer aboard the combat stores ship USS San Jose.

She went on to become the first woman of Hispanic descent to command a Navy warship when she took the helm the USS Curts, leading the guided-missile frigate through the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Her additional onboard postings include serving as commander of the guided missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and Carrier Strike Group 11 with the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. Stateside, Davids has served as senior military adviser to the assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs with the U.S. Department of State and chief of staff for the U.S. Southern Command.

The last time the superintendent change of command was stalled was in 1964 when the superintendent had a heart attack and chose to retire early.

Davids most recently served as director of the Learning to Action Drive Team, a post she had held since August 2022. The program was launched to address training, leadership and safety problems in the wake of a catastrophic fire aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard in 2020, which injured more than 60 sailors and civilians.

Now that she’s confirmed, Davids will train future Navy and Marine Corps officers those problem-solving and oversight skills at the Naval Academy as the school’s 65th superintendent since its founding in 1845.

As a midshipman, Davids studied oceanography and was known under her maiden name, Yvette Gonzales. She rowed on the crew team and eventually married Keith Davids, a 1990 academy graduate who became a rear admiral and SEAL team commander. The couple has twin sons.

Davids and her husband have been described by her former classmates as “a Navy power couple.” Heather Purvis, vice president of the academy’s Class of 1989, praised the Navy’s leadership for appointing a woman to the school’s top post.

“I’m super proud,” Purvis said in April when her nomination was first announced. “I can’t believe it’s finally happening.”

Davids went on to earn masters degrees from the Naval War College in 2002 and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 2012. A native of San Antonio, Texas, Davids has received the Mexican American Women’s National Association’s Las Primeras Award for Latinas who demonstrate important “firsts” in their fields.

Buck was appointed superintendent in 2019. A 1983 Naval Academy graduate, he commanded the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and the U.S. 4th Fleet out of Mayport, Florida.

Kacher will now head to Yokosuka, Japan to take the reins as commander of the United States Seventh Fleet.

©2024 Capital Gazette.

Visit at capitalgazette.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.