CAPT Kelly T. Fletcher

Past Commanding Officer, USS Essex (LHD 2)

22 January 2021 A native of West Hempstead, New York, Captain Kelly Fletcher enlisted in the Navy as an Electronics Technician in 1986. She was commissioned through the Enlisted Commissioning Program at the University of Arizona in 1997, with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science.

Afloat assignments include Damage Control Assistant onboard USS Paul F. Foster (DD 964); Combat Information Center Officer onboard USS Milius (DDG 69); Operations Officer onboard USS Tortuga (LSD 46), USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), and USS Vella Gulf (CG 72); Executive Officer and Commanding Officer of USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49); and N7 for Commander, Carrier Strike Group Fifteen.

While ashore, she served as a Training Liaison Officer at Afloat Training Group, Pacific; Aide to Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command; Action Officer in the Strategy and Policy Directorate and Commander’s Action Group at U.S. Joint Forces Command, and the Joint Development Directorate of the Joint Staff; and Director of Engineering Training at Afloat Training Group, San Diego.

Captain Fletcher earned her Master of Science in Global Leadership from the University of San Diego. She was a selectee for the Junior Line Officer Advanced Education Program (BURKE Program) and a recipient of the Navy League Winifred Quick Collins Award for Inspirational Leadership.

Captain Fletcher reported onboard USS Essex (LHD 2) in August 2019.