Richardson Takes the Reins
as Tophatter CO!

Story by LT Jim Stanley
VF-14 PAO
Press Release, december 10, 1999

Commander Samuel B. Richardson relieved Commander Walter (Ted) Carter as Commanding Officer of Fighter Squadron Fourteen in a ceremony held onboard NAS Oceana on December 10th, 1999. Commander Richardson became the seventy-third Commanding Officer of the Navy's oldest, continuously designated squadron.

Commander Richardson, a native of San Diego, California, graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1982 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He received his wings of gold in 1985 at Pensacola Naval Air Station. Following replacement training in the F-14A Tomcat, he completed numerous tours of duty with West Coast based F-14 squadrons, including the VF-114 Aardvarks and the VF-213 Blacklions. He was also an instructor at the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TopGun) at Miramar Naval Air Station. In addition, Commander Richardson served as the final Director of Tomcat Strike Fighter Weapons School prior to its consolidation with Strike/Fighter Weapons and Tactics School Atlantic. In that position, he oversaw the introduction of the Strike Fighter Weapons and Tactics program for the Tomcat community. Following a joint duty tour with the Operations Directorate of the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C., he joined the squadron as Executive Officer on November 7th, 1998. While serving as Executive Officer of VF-14, Commander Richardson led numerous combat missions during the course of Operation "Allied Force" over Kosovo and Operation "Southern Watch" over Iraq.

His wife, Beth, and their three sons, David, Dylan, and Noah attended the ceremony along with Commander Richardson's parents, Vice Admiral (Ret.) David and Mrs. Jeanne Richardson.

Interestingly, in 1944, Vice Admiral David C. Richardson was, as a Lieutenant Commander, the Commanding Officer of VF-1, known as the TopHatters. This World War II squadron, flying F-8 Bearcats, was formed on the West Coast at the same time that the long established High Hatters (VF-14) were operating in the Atlantic Theater. They have often been confused as the same squadron but had no relation other than a similar name.

Commander Ted Carter joined VF-14 as Executive Officer in July 1997, while the squadron was deployed on the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67). During his XO tour the squadron received the 1997 Naval Air Forces Atlantic Fleet Battle Readiness Award (Battle E) as well as the 1997 Admiral Joseph C. Clifton award for the best fighter squadron in the U.S. Navy. In addition, the squadron received the Arleigh Burke Fleet Award as the most improved Atlantic Fleet combat unit in 1997, for its successful return to combat readiness after it was nearly disestablished in 1995.

Commander Carter assumed command in November 1998 and was the seventy-second Commanding Officer of a squadron whose history began at the very start of Naval Aviation. First formed in 1919, the squadron celebrated its eightieth year of continuous service this past November with a tremendously successful reunion, attended by over 300 alumni from nearly all decades of the squadron's history. While commanding the Tophatters, Commander Carter led the squadron in the successful completion of over 550 combat missions over Kosovo during Operation "Allied Force" and over Iraq during Operation "Southern Watch" while a part of Carrier Air Wing Eight embarked on the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). During this deployment, Commander Carter learned that he had won the 1999 Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale award for inspirational leadership. Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale himself, along with the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jay L. Johnson, presented him the award in a ceremony at the Pentagon on October 25th, 1999.

Commander Carter has been given orders to Naval Nuclear Power Training in Charleston, South Carolina with follow on assignment as Executive Officer,USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75).

Joining the squadron, as Executive Officer, is Commander Bruce W. Fecht, who earned most of his Tomcat flight time in West Coast based F-14 squadrons. He completed numerous Western Pacific deployments while assigned to the VF-111 Sundowners, the VF-1 Wolfpack, and the VF-31 Tomcatters. Commander Fecht also served as a fleet adversary pilot in the VF-126 Bandits and has more than 4,100 flight hours in various naval aircraft, including over 2,600 flight hours in the F-14 Tomcat and over 650 carrier arrested landings.