Abernethy takes command of air station

Capt. R. Sydney Abernethy III relieved Capt. Stephen P. Black as Commanding Officer, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island on Oct. 13.

Rear Adm. Leendert R. Hering, Commander, Navy Region Northwest, was the guest speaker.

Black, a 23-year Navy veteran and native of Aldan, Penn., will next serve as Special Advisor to the Vice President of the United States for Homeland Security Affairs and National Security Affairs in Washington, D.C.

Abernethy hails from Baltimore and was raised in Annapolis. He is a 1981 graduate of the United States Naval Academy.

After commissioning, he reported to Naval Flight Officer training at Training Squadron 10, NAS Pensacola, Fla., He completed advanced Naval Flight Officer training at Mather Air Force Base, Calif., and received his wings in March 1983.

Abernethy was then assigned to Antarctic Devron Six, NAS Point Mugu, Calif., in 1983. Flying the LC-130 in support of scientific research, he made three six-month deployments to Antarctica in the three years he was assigned to the command.

In 1986, he requested and was granted a transition to the Fleet Air Reconnaissance community. After electronic warfare training at Cory Station, Pensacola, he reported to Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1), based then at NAS Agana, Guam, flying the EP-3E aircraft.

He qualified as a Senior Electronic Tactical Evaluator and Mission Commander flying reconnaissance squadron missions in support of national and Seventh Fleet tasking.

Abernethy transferred in 1989 to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he was assigned to the Unified Command Support Element of the Intelligence Directorate (J-2). During his tour, he was provided operational intelligence support to the United States Marine Corps and deployed to Jubayl, Saudi Arabia for the duration of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Of note, he was handpicked to return to Saudi Arabia in October 1991 for support during re-strike planning when Iraq failed to comply with United Nation sanctions.

He returned to VQ-1 for a department head tour in November 1992 and served as the squadron’s Administrative and Operations Officer.

His next assignment was with the Bureau of Naval Personnel as the Aviation Minority Affairs Officer and the VQ Aviation Assignment Detailer until June 1996.

Abernethy served as VQ-2’s Commanding Officer in Rota, Spain. After assignment to and graduation from the Naval War College in June 1999, he was assigned to Commander, Carrier Group Seven on board USS John C. Stennis during its Arabian Gulf deployment.

He worked as Operations Officer for the Center for Career Development in Millington, Tenn., before joining the Chief of Naval Operation’s staff as Special Assistant for Minority Affairs.

Abernethy has accumulated over 3,400 flight hours.