Lieutenant Commander Lawrence “Rod” Hanks, a native of Mechanicsville, Va, enlisted in the Navy in 1998 as an Electronics Technician. In 2009 LCDR Hanks was commissioned an Ensign through the Limited Duty Officer (LDO) Program and in 2016 converted from LDO to Unrestricted Surface Line Officer. LCDR Hanks is a graduate of Excelsior College where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Liberal Arts and the Naval War College in Newport, RI where he earned a Masters of Arts Degree in National Defense and Strategic Studies.

 

LCDR Hanks’s sea duty assignments include USS BOXER (LHD 4) as 3M Coordinator, USS WAYNE E MEYER (DDG 108) as Electronics Material Officer and Combat Systems Officer, Patrol Coastal Squadron One (PCRON 1) as Electronics Material Officer and N3, USS LASSEN (DDG 82) as Operations Officer, and is currently serving as Executive Officer in USS PATRIOT (MCM 7).

 

LCDR Hanks served ashore at the US Navy Ceremonial Guard as Lead Training Instructor and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard & IMF as a Navy Diver and Calibration Technician.

 

LCDR Hanks’s awards and decorations include the Navy Commendation Medal with four gold stars, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Navy Achievement Medal with three gold stars and various campaign and service medals.  LCDR Hanks is an ASW/SUW Warfare Tactics Instructor and two time Arleigh Burke Leadership Award recipient.