Robert D . Reilly Jr Rear Admiral Robert D . Reilly Jr . is a United States Navy Surface Warfare Flag Officer who retired from active duty in January 2010 after 34 - plus years of military service . His last assignment was as the 24th commander of the U . S . Navy ' s Military Sealift Command ( MSC ) . Biography . Reilly , a native of Winnetka , Illinois , and a graduate of New Trier High School ' s West Campus , comes from a family with more than a century of service in the U . S . Military . Commissioned in 1975 through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps , he first served aboard the as Electronic Material Officer , Combat Information Center Officer and Damage Control Assistant . His other shipboard tours included commissioning the as its first Operations Officer ; Engineering Officer aboard the ; Executive Officer of the " Spruance " class destroyer ; and as Commanding Officer of the . Reilly ' s additional operational tours at sea included duties as Flag Secretary , Cruiser Destroyer Group One , where he participated in the western Pacific and Southwest Asia deployments of , , and Battleship and Carrier Battle Group s ; and command of Destroyer Squadron Fifty ( COMDESRON 50 ) , homeported in the Kingdom of Bahrain . He also commanded Cruiser Destroyer Group Two and the Carrier Strike Group ( CSG - 10 ) . Ashore , Reilly served as Operations Readiness Assessment Officer , Commander , U . S . Pacific Fleet staff in Pearl Harbor , Hawaii ; Surface Warfare and Weapons Procurement Analyst , Program Resource Appraisal Division ( N81 ) , Office of the Chief of Naval Operations ; Surface Warfare Junior Officer Assignment Branch Head ( PERS 412 ) , Bureau of Naval Personnel ; Joint Operations Division Pacific Command Division Chief , Joint Staff ( J3 ) ; Director , Environmental Readiness , Chief of Naval Operations ( CNO N45 ) ; and as Deputy Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Information Technology ( CNO N098 ) and Department of the Navy Deputy Chief Information Officer ( Navy ) . Reilly assumed command of the Military Sealift Command in March 2006 . During his tenure MSC returned nearly $ 1 billion to the Navy ’ s budget through improved business practices ; won awards for contracting excellence , competitive procurement , small business , safety and environmental responsibility ; improved energy efficiencies ; placed additional helicopter detachments aboard U . S . navy fleet logistics ships , saving $ 700 million in cost avoidance over 20 years ; deployed the U . S . Navy ' s two Hospital Ships and on five humanitarian and civic assistance missions treating more than 370 , 000 patients in 25 countries ; evacuated 6 , 700 U . S . citizens from Beirut to safety in 2006 ; and delivered of combat equipment and supplies and 8 billion US gallons ( 30 , 000 , 000 m ) of fuel to U . S . and coalition forces ashore in Iraq and Afghanistan with a 98 percent on - time delivery record . Reilly earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Washington , and a Master ' s in Public Administration ( National Resources ) from the George Washington University . He is also a 1993 graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces .