Lieutenant Commander Russ Bates enlisted in the Navy in February 1988 as a Construction Electrician and was commissioned an Ensign in October 2000 under the Limited Duty Officer program.
LCDR Bates has served enlisted tours; twice with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion THREE (NMCB-3), Port Hueneme, California; Construction Battalion Unit 427, San Diego, California and Naval Communications Detachment Souda Bay Crete, Greece. During his tours with NMCB-3 he completed deployments to Rota Spain; Latvia; Guam; Seychelles Island; Diego Garcia; Morocco, Africa; and Sigonella, Sicily. During these assignments he filled challenging positions as Delta Company Operations Chief; Platoon Commander; Project Supervisor; and Crew Leader.
Following Civil Engineer Corps Officer School, he was assigned as Assistant Public Works Officer, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. This was followed by a tour of duty with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion ONE where he completed deployments to Okinawa, Japan; Rota, Spain; Andros Island and Guam. During this assignment, he served as Bravo Company Commander, Air Detachment Ops Officer, and Detail OIC to Andros Island. LCDR Bates then transferred to Construction Battalion Unit 410 in Jacksonville, Florida where he was the Officer in Charge and deployed his Unit in support of Joint Task Force Katrina. In 2006, he transferred to Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit TWO ZERO TWO where he served as the Operations Officer. He most recently completed a tour of duty as THIRD Naval Construction Regiments Training and Readiness Officer in Marietta, Georgia. During this tour of duty, LCDR Bates deployed with his Regiment to Operation Enduring Freedom Kandahar, Afghanistan where he served as the Assistant Operations Officer to a Task Force of 5,300 Engineers.
LCDR Bates is Seabee Combat Warfare Qualified. His decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (seven awards), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (five awards), Good Conduct Medal (three awards); Expert Service Rifle and Pistol and various unit and service awards.