Old salt

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A Battered "Old Salt"

An "old salt" is an old sailor or mariner who tells oral history and sea stories. Sometimes deemed a sage within their domain, and while sometimes a raconteur, much of the history and traditions of mariners are passed from generation to generation as told and retold by old salts. Their factual oral histories and fictional sea stories often intermingle and thus may overall be truthful, half-true, or fiction. Each narrative told by an old salt tends to have the aim of enhancing the reputation of the old salt, the old salt's companions, or the old salt's forebears, although they may also tell instructive tales of tragedy.[1][2]

United States military title[edit]

Quartermaster Dick Libby, USN, an Old Salt: "Twenty years in the Navy. "Never drunk on duty - never sober on liberty."[3] Portrait painted circa 1834 by Charles O. Cole

In the United States Navy, the "Old Salt" is a title passed to the longest-serving Surface Warfare Officer on active duty.[4] The award, currently held by Admiral Christopher W. Grady, honors the officer with the earliest standing SWO qualification.[5]

List of titleholders[edit]

No. Portrait Name Tenure as titleholder Positions held Ref
Date received Date relinquished Time as titleholder
1 Admiral
Lee Baggett Jr. 		November 4, 1988 December 9, 1988 35 days Commander-in-Chief,
United States Atlantic Command (1985-1988) 		[6]
2 Rear Admiral
Lawrence Layman 		December 9, 1988 February 28, 1989 81 days Director of Space, Command and Control (1986-1989) [6]
3 Vice Admiral
Albert J. Herberger 		February 28, 1989 March 21, 1990 1 year, 21 days Deputy Commander-in-Chief,
United States Transportation Command (1987-1990)[7] 		[6]
4 Vice Admiral
Joseph S. Donnell III 		March 21, 1990 January 31, 1991 316 days Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet (????-1991) [6]
5 Admiral
David E. Jeremiah 		February 1, 1991 February 28, 1994 3 years, 27 days Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1990-1994) [6]
6 Vice Admiral
David M. Bennett 		March 1, 1994 August 25, 1995 1 year, 177 days Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (1990-1992)
Naval Inspector General (1992-1995) 		[6]
7 Vice Admiral
Philip M. Quast 		August 26, 1995 February 14, 1997 1 year, 172 days Commander, Military Sealift Command (1995-1997)[8] [6]
8 Rear Admiral
George F.A. Wagner 		February 15, 1997 April 30, 1998 1 year, 74 days Commander,
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (1995-1998) 		[6]
9 Rear Admiral
George A. Huchting 		May 1, 1998 January 14, 1999 258 days Program Executive Officer for Surface Combatants (1991-1998) [6]
10 Rear Admiral
Dennis R. Conley 		January 14, 1999 March 31, 1999 76 days Commander, Mine Warfare Command (1996-1999) [6]
11 Rear Admiral
James B. Ferguson III 		April 1, 1999 June 1, 1999 61 days Commander, Western Hemisphere Group (????-1999) [6]
12 Vice Admiral
James F. Amerault 		June 2, 1999 July 24, 2001 2 years, 52 days Deputy Chief of Naval Operations
(Fleet Readiness and Logistics) (1998-2001)[9] 		[6]
13 Vice Admiral
Rodney P. Rempt 		July 25, 2001 May 21, 2007 5 years, 300 days President of the Naval War College (2001-2003)
Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy (2003-2007) 		[6]
14 Admiral
Michael Mullen 		May 22, 2007 December 16, 2011 4 years, 208 days Chief of Naval Operations (2005-2007)
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2007-2011) 		[6]
15 Admiral
John C. Harvey Jr. 		December 16, 2011 September 14, 2012 273 days Commander,
United States Fleet Forces Command (2009-2012) 		[10]
16 Vice Admiral
John Terence Blake 		September 14, 2012 December 17, 2012 94 days Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Integration
of Capabilities and Resources (2012)[11] 		[12]
17 Vice Admiral
Michael A. Lefever 		December 17, 2012 May 7, 2014 1 year, 141 days Director, Strategic Operational Planning,
National Counterterrorism Center (2011-2014) 		[12]
18 Admiral
Samuel J. Locklear 		May 7, 2014 June 22, 2015 1 year, 46 days Commander,
United States Pacific Command (2012-2015) 		[12]
19 Admiral
Kurt W. Tidd 		June 22, 2015 October 22, 2018 3 years, 122 days Assistant to the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2013-2016)[13]
Commander,
United States Southern Command (2016-2018) 		[14]
20 Admiral
Philip S. Davidson 		October 22, 2018 April 30, 2021 2 years, 190 days Commander,
United States Indo-Pacific Command (2018-2021) 		[15]
21 Admiral
Christopher W. Grady 		April 30, 2021 Incumbent 2 years, 341 days Commander,
United States Fleet Forces Command (2018-2021)
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2021–present) 		[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ward, Lorraine Ann (2014). "The archetype of the old salt: A hermeneutic study of western civilization's relationship with nature". Pacifica Graduate Institute, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
  2. ^ "OLD SALT (Noun) definition and synonyms | Macmillan Dictionary".
  3. ^ "Photo # KN-582 picture data". www.history.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 2000-09-19.
  4. ^ Rafael, Martie. "Navy Passes "Old Salt" Award". U.S. Navy. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  5. ^ a b Macchietto, Brooke (May 1, 2021). "FLEET FORCES COMMANDER BECOMES NAVY'S 'OLD SALT'". U.S. Fleet Forces Command. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Haun, Eric (June 30, 2015). "'Old Salt' Designation Passed to Vice Adm. Tidd". Maritime Professional.
  7. ^ "VADM ALBERT J. HERBERGER '55, USN (RET.)". Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Naval Postgraduate School Graduation Exercises / Class of March 1996" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  9. ^ "[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9][Senate][Pages 12486-12487]". Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  10. ^ John C. Harvey Jr. (September 14, 2012). "The Fundamentals of Surface Warfare: Sailors and Ships".
  11. ^ "VADM John Terence Blake USN (Ret)". Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  12. ^ a b c "Locklear Named Surface Navy Association's "Old Salt"". 12 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Kurt Tidd - Linkedin". Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  14. ^ Haun, Eric (30 June 2015). "'Old Salt' Designation Passed to Vice Adm. Tidd".
  15. ^ "Davidson is Navy's Newest 'Old Salt'". Seapower News. October 23, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2021.


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