Commanding Officer
Cmdr. John "Hammer" Leeds
Cmdr. John “Hammer” Leeds is a native of Atlantic City, New Jersey. He enlisted in the Navy in August 2006, completed Machinist’s Mate (Nuclear) “A” school and Nuclear Power School in Goose Creek, South Carolina. Upon completion of Nuclear Power School, he was selected for Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and was commissioned in February 2008. He earned his Naval Flight Officer Wings in the P-3C Orion aircraft at Patrol Squadron (VP) 30 in Jacksonville, Florida.
Leads’ first operational tour was with the “Pelicans” of VP-45 in Jacksonville, Florida. While assigned to VP-45, he completed a P-3C Orion aircraft deployment to the 6th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR) supporting Operation Unified Protector and El Salvador supporting Joint Interagency Task Force South, as well as a deployment to the 7th Fleet AOR supporting Theater Anti-Submarine Warfare (TASW), Carrier Strike Group (CSG), and Theater Security operations. Leeds transitioned to the P-8A Poseidon aircraft with VP-45.
Leeds reported to shore duty at VP-30 for Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) instructor duty. Following FRS instructor training, he reported to the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Weapons School (MPRWS) where he served as Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Weapons Officer, Fleet Introduction Training (FIT) Division Officer, Fleet Instructor-Under-Training (FIUT) Lead, Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) Course P-8A Lead, ASW Cross-Functional Team Lead, and Assistant Fleet Training Department Head.
Following his tour at the MPRWS, Leeds served as the Training Officer/Squadron Maritime Tactics Instructor (SMTI) for the “Red Lancers” of VP-10, completing one 6th Fleet Deployment supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, CSG support, and TASW operations in the High North and Mediterranean, and an additional surge to Keflavik supporting high-interest TASW operations.
Leeds completed one year of in-residence education at the Naval War College from February 2019 to March 2020, where he was part of the Vice. Admiral Samuel L. Gravely Advanced Warfighting Studies Group and an associate with the Russian Maritime Studies Institute (Holloway Group).
Leeds joined the “War Eagles” of VP-16 in August 2020, where he served as Tactics and Training Department Head, Commander Task Group (CTG) Operations Officer, and Operations Officer. VP-16 deployed to 6th Fleet in late 2021 prior to and during Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Following his department head tour, he reported to VP-30 where he served as the FRS Training Officer for the P-3C Orion, P-8A Poseidon and MQ-4C Triton aircraft.
In May of 2024, Leeds assumes duties as the executive officer of the “Mad Foxes” of VP-5.
Leeds holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from The College of New Jersey, a Master of Business Administration from The Kenan-Flagler Business School at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a master’s degree from the U.S. Naval War College. He has accumulated over 2,300 flight hours and has flown on-top of more than 18 different types of submarines from 11 countries.
His personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and various unit and campaign awards.