The same advice my commanding officer at Patrol Squadron 17, Cmdr. Robert J. Quinn, gave me before I was grilled to be given the responsibility to lead a crew of 12 all over the world, ready to stop a Russian submarine preparing to wipe out an American city with a nuclear missile: ‘Always remember that common sense and communication will solve 95 percent of the challenges you face in the Navy and life.

The same advice my commanding officer at Patrol Squadron 17, Cmdr. Robert J. Quinn, gave me before I was grilled to be given the responsibility to lead a crew of 12 all over the world, ready to stop a Russian submarine preparing to wipe out an American city with a nuclear missile: ‘Always remember that common sense and communication will solve 95 percent of the challenges you face in the Navy and life.

Growing up in the shadow of Johnson Space Center and moving to Texas to welcome our last moon mission home, I wanted to be an astronaut. Combined with my love for Navy history and World War II flight ops, and unsatisfying degrees in college and law school, I joined the Navy and became a naval aviator.

Have a defined mission with clear goals and timelines. I still trust the staff, with as little oversight as possible. Do things to show them that their time is as valuable to you as it is to them. Don’t be afraid to ‘fly solo.’

Proliferation of fanatical religious terrorists with safe harbors in broken countries, and the means to obtain and the will to use nuclear, chemical and biological weapons on our soil.