USS Gridley
Commanding Officer (September 4, 2012 - Present) 
   
CDR Gadala “Rick” Kratzer
Commanding Officer
Commander Kratzer is from Fort Lauderdale, FL. He enlisted in the Navy in 1988. He completed the Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training (BOOST) in 1992. He received his commission in 1996 through the NROTC program at the University of San Diego, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. He graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in 2005 with a Master’s Degree in Operations Research and a Master’s Degree in Defense Systems Technology from the National University of Singapore. He has completed both JPME I and JPME II certifications at NPS and at the Joint Forces Staff College, respectively. He is full joint qualified. His current assignment is to USS GRIDLEY as Commanding Officer.

Afloat, CDR Kratzer’s assignments include: Pre-Commissioning Unit/USS MIAMI (SSN-755) as Second Class Petty Officer; USS REUBEN JAMES (FFG-57) as both Auxiliaries and Electrical Officer; USS HEWITT (DD-966) as Operations Officer; Pre-Commissioning Unit/USS PREBLE (DDG-88) as Engineer Officer. CDR Kratzer’s deployments encompass operations in the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf. He served as Executive Officer of the USS GRIDLEY (DDG 101) and now, Commanding Officer.

Ashore, he served as Chief, Naval Forces Branch, Chief, C4I Systems, and Continuity of Operations (COOP) Action Officer at United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/United States Forces Korea; Mobility and Readiness Officer (N71) on the staff of the Commander, Naval Surface Forces; Surface Operations Officer on the staff of the Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group ONE. CDR Kratzer completed an Individual Augmentation assignment as Electronic Warfare Officer to Multi-National Forces-West Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi FREEDOM in February 2008.

CDR Kratzer’s awards include the Bronze star; Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Navy Commendation Medal (5 awards); Joint Service Achievement Medal; Navy Achievement Medal; Army Achievement Medal and various unit and service awards.
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