Tophatter Skipper Receives Stockdale Award!

Story by LT Jim Stanley, VF-14 PAO
September 1, 1999
Release No. 134-99

The Chief of Naval Operations recently announced that Commander Walter E. Carter, Jr., Commanding Officer of Fighter Squadron Fourteen, was selected as the recipient of the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for inspirational leadership for the Atlantic Fleet. Each year, a special Navy selection board is convened to select two officers, one representing the Atlantic Fleet and one representing the Pacific Fleet, to receive this unique and prestigious award. This award was established in honor of Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale, whose distinguished naval career symbolized the highest standards of excellence in both personal example and leadership. Vice Admiral Stockdale possessed a unique ability to inspire, and his career has become a pole star for those who follow him in the profession of arms.

The award is presented annually to two commissioned officers on active duty below the grade of Captain who are in command of a single ship, submarine, or squadron at the time of nomination. Candidates are nominated by their peers, who themselves must be eligible for the award. Nominations are submitted to the Commander in Chief of the Atlantic and Pacific Fleet, then forwarded to the Vice Admiral Stockdale Leadership Award Board for final recommendation to the Chief of Naval Operations. This year, CDR Carter was selected from among eight outstanding finalists.

His current assignment as Commanding Officer of Fighter Squadron Fourteen, currently deployed as part of Carrier Air Wing Eight on USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), tops a career of continuous excellence for CDR Carter. The son of Walter Sr. and Dorothy Carter of Pascoag, Rhode Island, he enrolled in the U.S. Naval Academy in 1977 and received his commission as an Ensign in May of 1981. He reported directly to Pensacola for flight training to become a Naval Flight Officer. As a student in flight school, his instructors selected him as Top Crew for excellence in air combat maneuvering performance in 1982. During his first tour as a fleet Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) in a squadron where he flew the F-4 Phantom he attended the Navy’s Fighter Weapons School, also known as "Topgun." Later, as an F-14 instructor RIO, he was selected as Instructor of the Year in 1987 and as the Pacific Fleet Tailhooker of the Year for 1988. As the Operations Officer of Carrier Air Wing Five, based aboard USS Independence (CV 62), he was involved in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He reported to Fighter Squadron Fourteen as Executive Officer in July 1997, and assumed command of the squadron in November 1998.

During CDR Carter’s tour with Fighter Squadron Fourteen, also known as the "Tophatters," the command has been awarded the Commander Naval Air Atlantic Fleet Battle Efficiency Award, or "Battle-E," representing the best F-14 Tomcat squadron on the East Coast. That was quickly followed by the winning of the Admiral Joseph C. Clifton Award as the U.S. Navy’s top fighter squadron as well as the Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy for the most improved combat unit in the Atlantic fleet, to include all ships, submarines, and aircraft squadrons.

It is a rare opportunity to lead a squadron into actual combat conditions, but that chance came to CDR Carter just a week after Fighter Squadron Fourteen departed on their regularly scheduled deployment on Theodore Roosevelt. When NATO ordered air strikes to commence in Kosovo, Theodore Roosevelt and her Battle Group were sent to help support Operation Allied Force. CDR Carter led his squadron by example from the very first day of Navy involvement in the conflict. He assumed the airborne lead of the Navy’s first strike into Kosovo when the briefed lead was unable to fly the mission. He guided his strike package through an extremely heavy surface-to-air threat and successfully delivered his ordnance on target, which ensured the overall mission was a success. During the course of the conflict, Fighter Squadron Fourteen delivered over 400,000 pounds of precision guided munitions without a single loss of life or damage to their F-14A Tomcats.

Commander Pat Hall, Commanding Officer of Strike Fighter Squadron Eighty-Seven, another squadron in Carrier Air Wing Eight, wrote the nomination letter for CDR Carter. "I have observed his commitment to excellence and contagious will to win permeate not only his squadron but also the entire Air Wing," CDR Hall wrote. "He has made it his personal mission to ensure when the call to arms was issued, Fighter Squadron Fourteen would be ready. Through his personal example, he has molded his officers into an extremely cohesive and capable group of warriors. His aircrew have flourished in combat as a result of very clearly stated goals, personal expectations, and accountability."

CDR Carter had this to say about receiving the award: "I have been very lucky to have an outstanding team of professional Aviators and senior enlisted personnel who work together to always achieve success in the squadron. They make my job very easy."

If you ask any of the officers in Fighter Squadron Fourteen, they will give a slightly different viewpoint. "He keeps us well informed of his vision for the squadron. If there is a change in plans, he let’s us know right away," said one Junior Officer. "All of the Aviators understand the Skipper’s intentions for any contingency while we are airborne, from fighting the enemy to handling an emergency. He has made it clear that by following the guidelines he has set out, he will back us up in any decisions we make in the air or on the ground, no matter the outcome."

With nearly 5,000 hours of flight time and over 1,500 carrier traps, CDR Carter is no doubt the voice of experience for the young and daring Aviators and the 250 enlisted personnel who work for him. By upholding those same leadership qualities that made Vice Admiral Stockdale the measure of a combat leader, CDR Carter has continuously excelled in his Naval career. The Vice Admiral Stockdale Leadership Award represents the pinnacle of achievement not only for CDR Carter, but also for the men and women of Fighter Squadron Fourteen.