George E . Mayer Rear Admiral George E . " Rico " Mayer ( born c . 1952 ) is a retired United States Naval officer and Naval Aviator . At the time of his retirement , he was the first Puerto Rican Commander of the Naval Safety Center . Early years . Mayer was born and raised in San Juan , Puerto Rico , the island ' s capital . There he received his primary and secondary education . In the 1960s , during his teenage years , he was unsure of what type of work he would like to do as an adult . This changed as he visited his father who worked at the local airport . Mayer became fascinated with aviation and decided that he would like to become an aviator . His father recommended that he join the Navy and become a Naval Aviator . United States Naval Academy . Mayer was accepted to the United States Naval Academy , graduating from the Naval Academy in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science . Upon graduation , he was designated as a Student Naval Aviator and assigned to flight training . Selected for advanced flight training in the Strike training pipeline , he earned his pilot ' s wings as a Naval Aviator following graduation from Training Air Wing One at Naval Air Station Meridian , Mississippi in 1976 . As a Naval Aviator , he was initially qualified in the carrier - based A - 7 Corsair II attack aircraft and later qualified in the F / A - 18 Hornet strike fighter . Naval career . Following transitional training with the Pacific Fleet A - 7 Fleet Replacement Squadron , Attack Squadron 122 ( VA - 122 ) , Mayer initially flew the A - 7E Corsair II with the “ Dambusters ” of Attack Squadron 195 ( VA - 195 ) at Naval Air Station Lemoore , California , deploying with the Pacific Fleet . He would later fly with other NAS Lemoore - based squadrons , the “ Fist of the Fleet ” of Attack Squadron 25 ( VA - 25 ) and the " Flying Eagles " of VA - 122 , the latter as an A - 7 instructor pilot . Subsequent flying assignments took him to Naval Air Station Cecil Field , Florida for recurrent training with the " Hellrazors " of Attack Squadron 174 ( VA - 174 ) followed by assignment to the “ Gunslingers ” of Attack Squadron 105 ( VA - 105 ) , where he deployed with the Atlantic Fleet . He then transitioned to the F / A - 18 Hornet for his command tour with the “ Rampagers ” of Strike Fighter Squadron 83 ( VFA - 83 ) , also based at NAS Cecil Field . He has accumulated over 4 , 000 flight hours and logged more than 1 , 000 carrier - arrested landings . Mayer served in the following shore duty assignments : Executive Assistant to the Chief of Legislative Affairs ; Light Attack / Strike Fighter Junior Officer Detailer with the Navy ' s Bureau of Personnel ( BUPERS ) in Washington , D . C . ; Spanish Command and Staff College in Madrid , Spain ; the U . S . Naval War College in Newport , Rhode Island , where he obtained a Master ’ s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies . Promoted to Rear Admiral ( Lower Half ) , his first flag officer assignment was as Deputy Director of Operations ( DJ3 ) at Headquarters , United States Central Command , MacDill Air Force Base , Florida . On September 11 , 2001 , while serving as Deputy Director of Operations at U . S . Central Command , he was quickly thrust into a major leadership role during the planning and execution of Operation Enduring Freedom . On February 15 , 2002 , Secretary of Defense Donald H . Rumsfeld announced that President George W . Bush had promoted him to the grade of Rear Admiral ( Upper Half ) . Rear Admiral Mayer ' s other command tours included commanding officer of the Atlantic Fleet F / A - 18 Fleet Replacement Squadron , the " Gladiators " of Strike Fighter Squadron 106 ( VFA - 106 ) ; Commander , Carrier Air Wing Seven ( CVW - 7 ) ; Commander , Carrier Group Eight ( COMCARGRU 8 ) ; and a dual command assignment as both Commander , Navy Region South ( COMNAVREG SOUTH ) , responsible for all naval shore installations in northwest Florida , Alabama , Mississippi , Tennessee , Louisiana , and Texas , and Chief of Naval Air Training ( CNATRA ) , responsible for the entire Naval Air Training Command , to include all naval flight training schools , training air wings and training squadrons in Florida , Mississippi and Texas . He assumed command of the Naval Safety Center in August 2005 and relinquished command and retired from the U . S . Navy in October 2007 . BALTOPS 2003 . Mayer commanded Carrier Group Eight , later renamed Carrier Strike Group Eight , whose base of operations is located in Norfolk , Virginia . During this tour , he led an international naval exercise known as Baltic Operations ( BALTOPS ) 2003 from his flagship , the USS Vella Gulf ( CG - 72 ) . Thirteen nations participated in the exercise , which included more than 3 , 600 personnel , 36 ships , 3 submarine s , over 40 aircraft , and 6 different ground forces from Allied and Partnership for Peace ( PfP ) nations which included Denmark , Estonia , Finland , France , Germany , Latvia , Lithuania , Norway , Poland , Russia , Sweden , the United Kingdom and the United States . It was the first time in the 31 year history of BALTOPS that the exercise included combined ground troops from Russia , Poland , Denmark and the United States . For the first time in the history of the exercise , BALTOPS 03 included ground force elements that trained in interoperability exercises , which included a combined Russian , Polish , Danish and American amphibious landings in Poland and an evacuation of role - playing non - combatants by both sea and air from Bornholm , Denmark . Final Command . In August 2005 , Mayer was assigned as Commander , Naval Safety Center in Norfolk , Virginia . As commander , he was responsible for the center ' s mission of providing safety assistance and advice to the Chief of Naval Operations ( CNO ) , the Commandant of the Marine Corps ( CMC ) , and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Safety in order to enhance the war fighting capability of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps , preserve resources and improve combat readiness by preventing mishaps and saving lives . Mayer has been a strong advocate of Hispanic recruitment and active participation in the United States Armed Forces and has been quoted as saying : " One of the biggest strengths of the Hispanic community is its ability to produce leaders in all facets of society and industry . " Recognition . On October 7 , 2005 , based on his service as former Chief of Naval Air Training and as Commander , Naval Safety Center , Rear Admiral Mayer was recognized as one of the nation ' s best and brightest engineers and scientists during the 17th Annual Hispanic Engineers National Achievement Awards Conference in Anaheim , California , where he received the program ' s military executive excellence award . Military decorations and awards . Among Rear Admiral Mayer ' s military decorations are the following :