Christopher Grady was born in Portsmouth, Virginia[1] and raised in Newport, Rhode Island. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame,[5] and was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program in 1984.[6] Grady is a distinguished graduate of Georgetown University, where he earned a Master of Arts in National Security Studies while concurrently participating as a fellow in Foreign Service at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He is also a distinguished graduate of the National War College of National Defense University, earning a Master of Science in National Security Affairs.[7]
Grady's initial sea tour was aboard USS Moosbrugger (DD 980), where he served as combat information center officer and anti-submarine warfare officer. As a department head, he served as weapons control officer and combat systems officer in USS Princeton(CG 59). He was the commanding officer of Mine Counter Measure Rotational Crew Echo in USS Chief(MCM 14), and deployed to the Persian Gulf in command of USS Ardent(MCM 12). Grady then commanded USS Cole(DDG 67) deploying as part of NATO's Standing Naval Forces Mediterranean. He then commanded Destroyer Squadron 22, deploying to the Persian Gulf as sea combat commander for the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG) in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
Ashore, Grady first served on the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and then as naval aide to the chief of naval operations. He also served on the staff of the chief of naval operations as assistant branch head, Europe and Eurasia Politico-Military Affairs Branch (OPNAV N524). He then served as executive assistant to the navy's Chief of Legislative Affairs. Next, he served as the deputy executive secretary of the National Security Council in the White House. He then went on to serve as the executive assistant to the chief of naval operations.
Grady's flag assignments include the Director of the Maritime Operations Center (N2/3/5/7), commander, United States Pacific Fleet; Commander, Carrier Strike Group 1 and the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group, where he deployed for nearly ten months to the Western Pacific and the Persian Gulf conducting combat operations in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. He was then commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic.
On February 28, 2018, Grady was nominated by President Donald Trump for appointment to the rank of admiral and assignment as commander of United States Fleet Forces Command,[12] and confirmed by the Senate on March 22, 2018.[13] He assumed command of USFFC and Naval Forces Northern Command on May 4, 2018[14] and of commander, Naval Forces Strategic Command (NAVSTRAT) and United States Strategic Command Joint Force Maritime Component Command (JFMCC) on February 1, 2019.[15][16]
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
On November 1, 2021, he was nominated by President Joe Biden to succeed retiring General John E. Hyten as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[17][18] A nomination hearing was scheduled for December 2, 2021, but it was postponed in favor of Senate negotiations on the 2022 NDAA.[19] He was confirmed by voice vote on December 16, 2021,[18] and was sworn in on December 20, 2021.[20]
Personal life
Grady and his wife Christine, married around 1985, have three children and a daughter-in-law.[21]
Awards and decorations
In addition to the below, the University of Notre Dame Alumni Board presented Grady with the Rev. William Corby, C.S.C., Award on September 28, 2019. Established in 1985, the award is conferred on alumni who have distinguished themselves in military service.[22]
^Christopher W. Grady (8 December 2021). U.S. Fleet Forces Change of Command. USS George H.W. Bush: U.S. Fleet Forces Command. Retrieved 9 December 2021.