James Symonds
{{Short description|American admiral}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=James A. Symonds
|image=Rear Admiral James A. Symonds.jpg
|caption=
|birth_date= {{birth date and age|1953|1|6}}
|death_date=
|birth_place= Sodus, New York, U.S.
|death_place=
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|United States}}
|branch=Navy
|serviceyears=1976–2010
|rank=Rear Admiral
|unit=
|commands=
|battles= * Cold War
|awards=
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
James A. Symonds (born January 6, 1953) is an American retired rear admiral of the United States Navy who last served as Commander, Navy Region Northwest, based in Silverdale, Washington. He was the former commanding officer of the aircraft carrier {{USS|Ronald Reagan}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=328|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060402232925/https://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=328|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 2, 2006|publisher=United States Navy|title=United States Navy Biography: Rear Admiral James A. Symonds|access-date=2010-03-12|date=September 5, 2007}} He had a prominent, symbolic role in the state funeral of former United States President Ronald Reagan in 2004.{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|publisher=NBC News|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5144264|title=Sun Sets as Reagan Laid to Rest in California|date=June 12, 2004|access-date=2008-06-05}}
Early life and education
Symonds is a native of Sodus, New York. He attended the State University of New York at Albany and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1975. He later was commissioned at the Aviation Officer Candidate School at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida that September and was designated a Naval Flight Officer in July 1976.
Military career
Symonds served one operational tour assigned as an A-6 Intruder bombardier/navigator in Attack Squadron 115, aboard the aircraft carrier {{USS|Midway|CV-41|6}}. In 1983, he became a naval aviator after being selected for pilot training and returned to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. He then participated in two additional operational tours with Attack Squadron 196. He was deployed on board {{USS|Constellation|CV-64|6}} and {{USS|Independence|CV-62|6}} amidst Operation Desert Storm.
In October 1992, Symonds was promoted to executive officer of Attack Squadron 165 on {{USS|Nimitz}} and took full command the following October. In 1995 he attended Navy Nuclear Power Training. Symonds was later assigned as executive officer of {{USS|Dwight D. Eisenhower|CVN-69|6}}, and led the ship on a 1998 deployment order to the Mediterranean Sea; he assumed command of {{USS|Nashville|LPD-13|6}} in 2001.
=USS ''Ronald Reagan''=
File:Mrs. Reagan is presented with flag.jpg's casket to former first lady Nancy Reagan, June 11, 2004]]
In August 2003 Symonds became commanding officer of {{USS|Ronald Reagan}}, the Navy's newest aircraft carrier.{{cite news|url=http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=37278|title=USS Ronald Reagan Departs on Third Deployment|date=May 20, 2008|publisher=United States Navy|access-date=2008-06-05|archive-date=2008-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601205535/http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=37278|url-status=dead}} He presided over the ship's transfer from Norfolk, Virginia to its homeport in San Diego, California.
On June 5, 2004, while Symonds was commanding officer, former president Ronald Reagan, the ship's namesake, died at his home in California. Upon former First Lady Nancy Reagan's request, the commanding officer of USS Ronald Reagan would present her the American flag that draped the president's casket;{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0406/11/lol.01.html|title=CNN Transcript|publisher=CNN|access-date=2008-06-05|date=June 11, 2004}} at the time, it was Symonds.{{cite news|publisher=CBS|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-nation-bids-reagan-farewell/|title=A Nation Bids Reagan Farewell|date=June 11, 2004|access-date=2008-06-05}} Following a national funeral service in the Washington National Cathedral and six days of public mourning, Symonds presented Nancy Reagan with the flag at President Reagan's gravesite at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library prior to his interment.
=Recent career=
Symonds turned over command of USS Ronald Reagan to Captain Terry Kraft on November 17, 2005.{{cite web|publisher=United States Navy |url=http://www.c3f.navy.mil/images_USS_Ronald_Reagan_COC.htm |title=USS Ronald Reagan Change of Command Ceremony |date=November 17, 2005 |access-date=2008-06-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070920205326/http://www.c3f.navy.mil/images_USS_Ronald_Reagan_COC.htm |archive-date=September 20, 2007 }} His more recent posts have been Navy Director of Environmental Readiness{{cite news|title=Navy Sonar Exempted from Marine Mammal Protection Law|date=January 24, 2007|access-date=2008-06-05|work=Environmental News Service|url=http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2007/2007-01-24-02.asp}} and commander of the Navy Region Northwest, a position he took up in July 2007.
Awards
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- Defense Superior Service Medal
- Legion of Merit (three awards)
- Meritorious Service Medal (four awards)
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- Strike Flight Medal
- Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (three awards)
- Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (two awards)
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Footnotes
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{{Commons category}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Symonds, James}}
Category:United States Navy admirals
Category:University at Albany, SUNY alumni
Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit
Category:Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal
Category:People from Sodus, New York