Laboon (DDG 58) - Naval Cruise Book

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COMMANDING OFFICER Commander Eugene F. Moran Jr. United States Navy Commander Moran of Boca Raton, Florida was commis- sioned through the NROTC program at Florida State Uni- versity in 1984. Following Surface Warfare Division Officer Training in Newport, Rhode Island, he reported to USS FLATLEY (FFG 21) where he served as Communications Of- ficer, Combat Information center Officer and Ordnance Offi- cer from 1985 to 1987. Following his first sea tour Com- mander Moran attended the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California and earned a Master ' s Degree in Fi- nancial Management. In 1989, Commander Moran reported to USS NICHOLSON (DD 982) as Operations Officer. Upon completion of his first department head tour. Commander Moran was assigned to the precommissioning crew of USS VICKSBURG (CG 69) as Operations Officer, where he served from 1991 to 1994. Following his Department Head tours. Commander Moran was assigned to the Bureau of Na- val Personnel, where he served as Major Staffs Placement Officer, and subsequently as the Chief of Naval Operations ' Deputy Special Assistant for Flag Officer Detailing until March 1997. Commander Moran was next assigned as Exec- utive Officer of USS ANZIO (CG 68). Upon completion of his Executive Officer tour in October 1998, Commander Moran was assigned as Commanding Officer, USS LABOON (DDG 58). Commander Moran is a Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology Seminar XXI Fellow, a non-resident graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College. His personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Com- mendation Medal (four awards). Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and various unit awards. Commander Moran and his wife Julie have four daugh- ters: Kathryn, Andrea, Jillian and Rachel. m»»iF

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FEARLESS FIFTY EIGHT ' S NAMESAKE Fearless Fifty Eight honors the distinguished career of Captain John Francis Jake Laboon, Chaplain Corps, U.S. Navy. Known to most simply as Father Jake, he devoted his life to service to God, Country, and the Navy. A football star and National Championship Lacrosse AJl-American, Laboon graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy as a member of the class of 1944. Assigned to the submarine USS PETO (SS 265), then Lieutenant Junior Grade Laboon won the Silver Star for brav- ery for diving from his moving submarine to rescue a downed aviator under heavy enemy fire. At the close of World War II in 1946, Lieutenant Laboon left the Navy to become a Jesuit priest. In 1958, Father Laboon returned to the Navy he loved as a member of the Chaplain Corps. Over the next 21 years, he served in virtually every branch of the Navy and Marine Corps. His assignments included tours in Alaska, Hawaii, Ja- pan, and Vietnam. As a Chaplain with the Marines in Vietnam, Father Laboon earned a Legion of Merit with Combat V. In addition to his heroic service in two wars, Father Laboon became the first chaplain for the Polaris Submarine Pro- gram, and later became the Senior Catholic Chaplain at the Naval Academy. The Naval Academy has honored Father Laboon by renaming the Chaplain ' s House in his honor. When he retired in 1979, Captain Laboon was the Fleet Chap- lain, Atlantic Fleet. When his naval career ended. Father Laboon returned to Annapolis as the house manager of the Jesuit retreat facil- ity, Manresa-on-Severn. His final tour of duty was a pastor of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Church in Woodstock, Mary- land. When he died in 1988, Father Jake left behind countless service members and their families whose lives he had touched with his compassion and understanding. His courage and genuine interest and concern for all his shipmates was then, is now, and will forever remain an extraordinary example for young sailors and marines everywhere. It is in- deed an honor for DDG 58 to be named for such a hero.

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EXECUTIVE OFFICER Lieutenant Commander Robert M. Byron United States Navy LCDR Robert Byron was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He entered the U.S. Navy Academy from his hometown of Asheville, North CaroUna, and graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science. He has served four sea tours with units of the Atlan- tic fleet during which he made four deployments to Arctic Circle, Northern and Southern Europe, and the Persian Gulf. He served as Damage Control Assistant and Second Division Officer in USS NEWPORT (LST 1179), Navigator Admin Officer in USS COONTZ (DDG 40), and Fire Control Officer and Combat Infor- mation Center Officer in USS TICONDEROGA (CG 47). His most recent tour at sea was as Operations and Combat Systems Officer in USS ANZIO (CG 68) from October 1995 to May 1997. LCDR Byron earned a Master of Science degree in Information Technology Management at the Naval Postgraduate School, and most recently served on the staff of Commander in Chief, United States European Command, Command, Control and Communications Systems Directorate in Stuttgart, Germany. LCDR Byron is married to the former Theresa Marie Trymbiski of Doyelstown, Pennsylvania, and has three children: Bridget, Robert, and James. LCDR Byron en- joys golf, fishing, camping, and woodworking.