COLUMBUS, Ohio –
Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson announced today that Navy Rear Adm. John T. Palmer has been selected to serve as the next commander of DLA Land and Maritime. A change of command ceremony is being coordinated for late June 2018.
Palmer is currently serving as director, logistics, fleet supply and ordnance, N4, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Palmer will succeed Rear Adm. Michelle Skubic, who has been selected for promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral (upper half) and will be assigned as Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) and Chief of Supply Corps, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
Palmer is a 1988 graduate of The Citadel with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. He also graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School with a Master of Science degree in systems management (acquisition and contract management) and the Columbia University Graduate School of Business Senior Executive Program.
Palmer’s operational assignments include supply officer, USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) in support of Joint Task Force Katrina; principal assistant for logistics, USS George Washington (CVN 73) participating in operations Enduring Freedom and Noble Eagle; supply officer, USS Boone (FFG 28) serving with Mediterranean NATO forces in operation Sharp Guard in support of action in Bosnia; and material division officer and aviation support division officer, USS Guam (LPH 9), where he participated in operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Eastern Exit.
His command shore assignments include commanding officer, NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center San Diego; commander, Defense Distribution Mapping Activity (DDMA); and commander, Defense Distribution Depot Richmond Virginia (DDRV). Other tours ashore include assistant commander, Supply Operations & Logistics Policy (N3/4) and executive assistant to Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP); director of supply corps personnel, Navy Personnel Command (NPC); deputy assistant commander for contracts, deputy department head for contracts in support of PEO (W) (Cruise Missiles & Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), and AIR 1.0 (Multi-Mission Aircraft & Multi-Mission Platform Equipment, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR); procurement branch chief, Defense Logistics Agency Aviation (formerly Defense Supply Center Richmond); and instructor of supply management and joint aviation supply & maintenance material management, Navy Supply Corps School.
Palmer’s qualifications include Naval Aviation Supply Officer, Surface Warfare Supply Corps Officer, DAWIA Level III (Contracting), Joint Qualified Officer, and membership in the Defense Acquisition Corps. He is recognized by the National Contract Management Association as a Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM). He is entitled to wear the Legion of Merit, along with various other personal, unit and service awards.