Lunch will be served at noon, followed by the meeting at 1 p.m.
Adm. Frank B. Kelso II served as CNO from June 29, 1990, until April 23, 1994. His tenure as chief of naval operations was marked by the impressive victory of Navy and other coalition forces over Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, but also by allegations that U.S. naval personnel had engaged in acts of sexual harassment, according to his biography on the Naval Historical Center website.
A native of Fayetteville, Kelso, 77, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1956. During his 42-year career in the Navy, he served tours as commanding officer of nuclear attack submarines U.S.S. Finback and U.S.S. Bluefish and as Commander Submarine Squadron Seven.
In 1985, Kelso took command of the U.S. Sixth Fleet and in that position directed joint Navy-Air Force air strikes against Libya. In 1986 he was named commander in chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet and in 1988 commander in chief, U.S. Atlantic Command.
He took the helm as CNO in 1990. Kelso was head of the Navy during Operation Desert Storm, launched in response to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s Aug. 2, 1990, invasion of Kuwait.
Naval forces he had armed, equipped, and trained prevailed against the enemy in one of the most masterful campaigns in military history.
