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Trident Scholar Program
Picture Name

Rear Admiral Jeffrey A. Cook, USN (Ret.)

Vice Commander, Naval Air Systems Command

Then...

Jeffrey Alan Cook hails from Medfield, Mass., a small town on the coast of Boston. It is generally believed that “Cookie” migrated South to the Academy to become a Boston Whaler. Leaving behind his skiis and the familiar slopes throughout New Hampshire and Vermont, Cookie came into the world of sea despite an acceptance at Harvard on a scholarship. He easily humbled the academics at Navy in true Ivy League style. It is no wonder he was accepted as a Trident Scholar. As far as anyone knows, including the Academic Dean, Jeff’s project has to do with a repulsive substance called steam. If he was a hard charger in academics he was even more enthusiastic in sports. The football and lacrosse fields were his home. During the winter sports season he could be found horizontal in the weight room, studying to be a muscle.. With all these points in his favor it was no surprises when Jeff traded in this nickname “Cookie” for “Ole 12 bars.” Due to a recent decline in the whaling industry it looks as though Jeff has chosen Navy Air as a career. An assured success in any endeavor, the future is his.

Jeffrey’s Trident Scholar research was titled, “The Effects of Heterogeneous Seeding on the Condensation of Pure Vapor in Nozzles."

...& Now

Raised in Medfield, Massachusetts, Rear Admiral Cook attended the U.S. Naval Academy where he served as Brigade Commander and graduated fifth in the Class of 1968. Following graduation he immediately enrolled at North Carolina State University where he earned a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering the following year. He then entered the Navy’s flight training program.

Rear Admiral Cook earned his Navy wings in 1970. Following training in the F-4 Phantom II, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron Forty One based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana. His next assignment was at the Pacific Missile Test Center (PMTC), where he served as a Sparrow and AMRAAM missile project officer. While at PMTC, he transitioned to the F-14 Tomcat aircraft. Rear Admiral Cook then served with the Fighter Squadron One Forty-Two also based out of NAS OCeana. At the completion of his tour, he was selected as an Aeronautical Engineering Duty Officer (AEDO). His first assignment as an AEDO was at the Naval Aviation Depot in Norfolk, Virginia, where he was the F-14 project officer, and later the Engineering and Quality Assurance Department Head.

In 1983, Rear Admiral Cook was assigned to the Naval Air Systems command and he immediately completed the Defense Systems Management College Program Manager’s Course. Since then he has served as an F/A-18 Deputy Program Manager, the Executive Assistant to the Commander, the A-12 Chief Engineer (Class Desk), the AFX Program Manager and the Joint advanced Strike Technology Transition Team Leader.

In February 1994, Rear Admiral Cook was assigned to the staff of the Program Executive Office for tactical Air Programs where he served as the Operations Officer and acting Principal Deputy. In November 1995, he was appointed as the Program Executive Officer for Tactical Aircraft Programs.

Rear Admiral Cook’s decorations include the Legion of Merit, three Meritorious Service Medals, Navy Unit commendation and the Meritorious Unit Commendation.

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