Allegiance United States | Rank Rear Admiral Name Fernandez Ponds | |
 | ||
Commands held Joint Task Force Guantanamo
USS Kearsage | ||
Service/branch United States Navy | ||
Fernandez Lewis "Frank" Ponds is former United States Navy officer from the U.S. state of Alabama. He is the former commanding officer of USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) and commanded the destroyer USS Fife in the early 2000s. He is also a former executive officer of USS Paul F. Foster.
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Early life and education
Ponds is originally from Autaugaville, Alabama and graduated from the University of Alabama in 1982 with a bachelor's degree.
2000s
Ponds is a former executive officer of USS Paul F. Foster.
2003
Ponds was the last commanding officer of the Spruance-class destroyer USS Fife, which he commanded from 2001 to when the ship was decommissioned in February 2003.
2008
In 2008, while the commanding officer of USS Kearsarge he held an appointment as Commodore in charge of Operation Continuing Promise -- relief efforts in hurricane ravaged Haiti.
2015
In April 2015 his appointment as the fifteenth commandant of Joint Task Force Guantanamo was announced.
Ponds retired from the U.S. Navy in late 2015.
Awards and decorations
Ponds has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (four), Meritorious Service Medal (five), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (three), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.
Personal life
Ponds is married and has two children.