Bessemer City High School Alumni
Bessemer City, North Carolina (NC)
Darrell Keller
Bessemer City High School
Class of 1992
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DARRELL'S PROFILE
First Name | Darrell |
Last Name | Keller |
Graduation Year | Class of 1992 |
Gender | Male |
City | N/A |
State/Province | NC |
Country | United States |
Occupation | Lieutenant Commander |
Married | Yes |
Favorite School Memory | Graduation! |
About Me | In the Summer of 1993, he enlisted in the Navy Reserves and completed recruit training (Company 93-127) at Great Lakes, Illinois. He returned to UNC-Asheville and, in 1996, completed his BA in History. While enlisted, he served as an Intelligence Specialist and worked for the counter-drug, counter-terrorism, and counter-intelligence department of the Atlantic Intelligence Command, Norfolk, Virginia, ultimately earning the rank of Second Class Petty Officer (IS2). Following graduation from UNC-A, he reported to NAS Pensacola, Florida for Officer Candidate School (Class 18-97) and Naval Flight Officer aviation training. He was commissioned as an Ensign (ENS) on 03 July 1997. After flight training, he reported to the VP- 4 Skinny Dragons (Combat Aircrew 3) at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base, Hawaii where he served from August 1999 – October 2002. In his initial fleet tour, He completed 2 deployments, the first to Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan and Misawa Air Base in Misawa, Japan. His second deployment was to Diego Garcia, Masirah, Oman, and Manama, Bahrain where he served in OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. With 19 combat sorties overland Afghanistan (primarily over Khowst and Gardez and Operation ANACONDA), and numerous reconnaissance sorties elsewhere, he was selected to serve as the VP Liaison Officer aboard the USS JOHN C. STENNIS and the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY. During his tour with VP-4, he was designated Patrol Plane Tactical Coordinator (TACCO) and Mission Commander (MC). He reported to the Naval Research Laboratory Flight Support Detachment at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland in October 2002. He took part in multiple research missions including BAMEX (tornado chasing) out of St Louis, Missouri, mapping the ocean currents in the Gulf of Mexico out of New Orleans, Louisiana, and a month long research detachment to Antarctica, based out of Ushuaia, Argentina to calibrate NASA's ICESAT system. In 2005, he completed a second BA in Philosophy at St Mary's College of Maryland. He served onboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) as the Tactical Action Officer from August 2005 to October 2007, where he deployed on CVN-76’s Maiden Deployment to 5th Fleet and operated in support of OPERATIONS IRAQI and ENDURING FREEDOM. He completed a MA in Liberal Studies at Excelsior College in 2006. He proceeded to the Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command (NMAWC) in San Diego, CA in October 2007. He was selected as Aviation Operational – Training Department Head in 2008 and reported to the Tactical Airborne Control Squadron (TACRON) 11 in San Diego in April 2009, where he served as the Operations Department Head and Detachment OIC. In February 2011, he was selected as the United States Naval Liaison to Kenya, where he served until January 2012. In March 2012, he returned to the Intelligence community when he joined the Naval Information Operations Command (NIOC) Norfolk in Virginia Beach, VA. In March 2015, he transferred to his final command onboard USS Gerald R. Ford CVN 78. He served as the Assistant Combat Direction Center Officer and Lead TAO, where he was the very first TAO (TAO #1) for the new FORD class aircraft carriers. Upon retirement in February 2017, LCDR Keller started teaching AP and Honors US History at Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy in Rutherford County, North Carolina. He currently resides in Shelby, NC with his wife, Lynn, and four children, Darrell III, Presley, Aubrey, and Dakota. LCDR Keller's awards and medals include a Meritorious Service Medal, a Joint Service Commendation Medal, 5 Navy Commendation Medals, 3 Navy Achievement Medals, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, 2 Navy Unit Citations, 3 Meritorious Unit Citations, 3 Battle "E" Efficiency Awards, Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal, 2 National Defense Medals, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, 2 Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medals, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Meritorious Volunteer Service Medal, 3 Sea Service Deployment Ribbons...(read more) |
Class of 1992 Alumni and Other Nearby Classes
→ Reunite with 21 class of 1992 alumni that have joined.
Gemichael Dawkins
Class of 2000
Michelle Ross
Class of 1992
John Smith
Class of 1983
Vickie Stewart
Class of 1944
Sandria Whitworth
Class of 1965
Emily Payne
Class of 1994
Lynn Hill
Class of 1985
Joy Kristin Glenn
Class of 1999
Gilbert Law
Class of 2009
Brian Finch
Class of 1986
Allen Long
Class of 1965
Kipp Gilliam
Class of 1991
Missy Best
Class of 1992
Latosha Elswick
Class of 2003
Jada Carter
Class of 2006
Eric Sanders
Class of 1989
Teresa Carpenter
Class of 1983
Rhonda Barnhill
Class of 1970
David Price
Class of 2000
Ladd Bridges
Class of 1988
Brian Trotter
Class of 1992
Marcella Carpenter
Class of 1988
Jennifer Mcnair
Class of 1998
Pamela Bryant
Class of 1979