Ponce (LPD 15) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 9 text:

COMMANDING OFFICER In the course of his long and distinguished career Captain Lucas has served his nation admirably and faithfully on both ship and shore commands. He was commanding the Naval Amphibious School Little Creek when he assumed command of USS PONCE in January of 1985. 5 = TT

Page 8 text:

CAPT Robert P. Lucas is a native of New York City, and served in both the Norwegian and United States Merchant Marine before attending the State Maritime College at Fort Schuyler. He graduated in 1958 and is a licensed Master Mariner. Captain Lucas made extended deployments to both the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans as Navigator aboard the icebreaker USS GLACIER (AGB 4). He then volunteered for submarine duty and subsequently qualified for command of submarines. In 1967 Captain Lucas attended the U.S. Naval War College and completed advanced studies at George Washington University.

Page 10 text:

EXECUTIVE OFFICER LCDR Todd Parrish enlisted in the Navy through the NROTC unit at the University of North Carolina. Graduating in May, 1973 he attended the pilot program for what is now Surface Warfare Officer's Basic. He has had a distinguished career both ashore and afloat, and was serving as scheduler for COMPHIBRON 2 prior to reporting to PONCE. LCDR Parrish has two children, TJ, 16, and Christy, 9. 6