CDR Arlene V. Crews

Executive Officer, USS Decatur (DDG 73)

07 October 2024 CDR Arlene Crews graduated from the University of Southern California in 2008 with Bachelors of Arts in International Relations and Italian and was commissioned via the Naval ROTC program. She is an Olmsted Scholar and earned her Master’s Degree in National Security from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland in 2015.

At sea, she has served aboard USS MONTEREY (CG 61) as the Combat Information Center Officer, USS GONZALEZ (DDG 66) as the Navigator, and USS SAMPSON (DDG 102) as the Operations Officer. She was the Training and Readiness Officer and Staff Director of Destroyer Squadron NINE based in Everett, WA. She has deployed to the 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th Fleet areas of operation, participating in missions such as Operation Enduring Freedom, Oceania Maritime Security Initiative, and Operation Inherent Resolve.

Ashore, CDR Crews was the Resource and Requirements Officer for Ship Self Defense System and Enterprise Test and Evaluation under the Surface Warfare Division of OPNAV (N96). She is a member of the White House Fellows Class of 2021-2022 where she worked for the Office of the Vice President and led on the Second Gentleman’s policy and public engagements. CDR Crews most recently served as the Deputy Executive Assistant to OPNAV N8, Integration of Capabilities and Resources.