Executive Officer
Cmdr. Jeff "Silver Fox" Spencer
A native of Yuba City, California, Cmdr. Spencer enlisted in the Navy in February 1996. He attended Machinist’s Mate “A” School and Naval Nuclear Power School in Orlando, Florida, where he graduated with honors prior to transferring to Charleston, South Carolina, for Nuclear Power Prototype training and Engineering Laboratory Technician School. He reported to his first sea tour in February 1998 aboard USS Greeneville (SSN 772), a fast-attack submarine based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. During his 5-year sea tour he graduated from Navy Submarine SCUBA Dive School and completed several deployments including operations in the Western Pacific, the Eastern Pacific, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, Central America, Canada, and Alaska. He was subsequently selected for the Seaman to Admiral officer program and attended the State University of New York Maritime College in Bronx, New York, where he earned his Mechanical Engineering degree and graduated as the 2006 class valedictorian.
Spencer completed Navy flight training in 2008 and reported to the AMCM Weapon Systems Training School (AWSTS) in Norfolk, Virginia, for training in the MH-53E Sea Dragon. Upon completion in February 2009, he reported to Corpus Christi, Texas, to become a “Blackhawk” at Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 15. Over his three-year sea tour, Spencer deployed to the Middle East for a total of 20 months in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and accumulated 1000 hours in the MH-53E.
Following his first sea tour, Spencer was selected to become a Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) Instructor Pilot with AWSTS, returning as a “Sea Dragon” in Norfolk, Virginia. While there, he served as safety department head and the Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic (CNAL) MH-53E NATOPS evaluator and additionally completed the Navy’s Rotary Wing Mountain Flying School, and earned his Sea Dragon Weapons and Tactics Instructor qualification.
In March of 2015, Spencer was selected to return to the “Blackhawks” to serve as HM-15’s weapons and tactics instructor and training officer where he spent an additional 10 months in the Middle East and logged an additional 550 flight hours.
Following his weapons and tactics instructor tour, Spencer reported for his department head tour with the “World Famous Vanguard” of HM-14 where he served as administrative department head, training department head, maintenance department head, and detachment officer-in-charge at Pohang Air Base, Republic of Korea.
Most recently, Spencer served as the training officer at HM-12 prior to assuming duties as executive officer in September 2023.
Over his 17 years as a Navy pilot, Spencer has amassed over 3000 flight hours, 2,800 in the mighty MH-53E, including over 2100 hours as an aircraft commander, 300 hours of AMCM tow time, and 440 hours of NVD time, and has attained every instructor qualification in the Sea Dragon training syllabus.
Spencer is the recipient of 5 Navy Commendation Medals, 3 Navy Achievement Medals, 4 Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, and numerous other personal and unit awards.