Capt. Robert Chandler assumed command of Naval Air Station Patuxent River on Sept. 24, taking over from outgoing Commanding Officer Capt. Mark Zematis in a ceremony that marked two firsts for the installation.
Chandler is the last officer to “fleet up” to the commanding officer position at Pax River under the Navy’s Fleet Up program, in which an officer serves roughly a year and a half as executive officer before advancing to command the same station — and he is the first prior-enlisted officer ever to lead the installation.
A native of Inverness, Florida, Chandler enlisted as an undesignated airman in March 1992 and advanced to Aviation Electronics Technician First Class before commissioning through Officer Candidate School in January 2002. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2001 and later a master’s degree in Administration in Acquisition and Contract Administration from the University of West Florida. After winging as a Naval Flight Officer in 2003 and selecting S-3B Vikings, his first operational tour was with VS-31 at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, where he completed two deployments and logged more than 1,100 flight hours and 330 traps.
Chandler transitioned to the EP-3E aircraft in 2008 and went on to serve with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadrons TWO and ONE, Commander U.S. SIXTH Fleet, AFRICOM/EUCOM, PACOM and SOUTHCOM, OPNAV N98, and Task Force SEVEN TWO before arriving at Pax River as executive officer under the Fleet Up program.
“As some of you may know, NAS Pax River means a lot to me and my family; we moved here in January 1998 as a second class petty officer, and left in October 2001 as a first class to continue in the Navy as an officer,” Chandler said during the ceremony. “And we’re back — exciting times. I am ready and up to the task to lead and execute the mission of NAS Patuxent River.”
Zematis honored for his tenure
Capt. Aaron Shoemaker, Chief of Staff for Naval District Washington, officiated the ceremony and praised the scale of responsibility that comes with leading Pax River.
“You’re not simply the commanding officer; you’re the mayor, city planner, port authority, fire and police commissioner, and the chief diplomat representing a workforce of over 25,000 personnel in the local community,” Shoemaker said, citing the installation’s 65 tenant commands, 13 hangars, two towered airfields, two outlying properties at Webster Field and the Navy Recreation Center Solomons Island, and more than 1,900 facilities spanning thousands of acres along the Chesapeake. “Captain Zematis has answered that call with steady hands and a clear purpose.”
Shoemaker presented Zematis with the Legion of Merit for his service as commanding officer. In his own remarks, Zematis emphasized the collective effort behind the base’s mission.
“Pax River isn’t just an air station, it’s a strategic asset; the premier research, development, test, and evaluation complex for naval aviation,” Zematis said. “Simply put, every aircraft, every helicopter, every unmanned system, every advanced radar sensor, and aviation weapon operating across the globe has Pax River’s fingerprints on it.”
NAS Patuxent River was commissioned April 1, 1943, to consolidate the Navy’s aircraft test and evaluation efforts into a single location. Today it hosts 64 mission partners, including Naval Air Systems Command and the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, and handles the full spectrum of research, development, test and evaluation, acquisition, sustainment and lifecycle management for Navy and Marine Corps aircraft, weapons systems and support equipment.
