WEST BETHESDA, Md. –
Retired Vice Adm. Melvin Williams Jr., a member of the Centennial Seven, spoke at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day/African American History Month observance Feb. 3.
Williams and the other members of the Seven made naval history in the 1970s as the first black men to command submarines.
“When you think about seven men, one of whom earned his Ph.D., two of whom became captains and four of whom became flag officers… the odds of that are rare,” said Williams, currently the associate provost for military and veterans affairs at The George Washington University. “The Navy wants to put the word out about us to inspire others.”
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and Catholic University, Williams followed in his father’s footsteps while serving in the Navy from 1974-2010. But Williams said that due to race, retired Master Chief Melvin Williams Sr. did not have the same opportunities Mel Jr. had, the elder Williams having to join as a steward when he enlisted in 1951. He did rise through the ranks to become a command master chief and eventually became an adviser to Chief of Naval Operations Elmo Zumwault on race relations, enabling him to steer the Navy toward equality for present and future shipmates.
“At the time, you had ‘stewards,’ who were mostly black and Filipino, and ‘commissarymen,’ who were mostly white, and the advancement was better for the commissarymen,” Williams said. “My father recommended combining them into the mess management specialist rating and a few cycles after the merger, advancement evened out. So my father eliminated the last vestige of institutional racism in the Navy.”
Williams talked about other experiences he and his father wrote about in their book, “Navigating the Seven Seas.” The book is one of 18 on the Chief of Naval Operations’ essential reading list and focuses on leadership through examples from both men’s naval careers.
“Dad and I have a long-winded description of leadership: It’s an art and science of achieving desired effectiveness,” Williams said. “Your record of decision-making characterizes your reputation, as well as the performance of the organization. I’ve always wanted a diverse mix of men and women in the room. The quality of decisions has been better [that way], I’ve found. But the key is character.”
Williams said “character” is the most important of the “Seven C’s of Leadership” discussed in his book. An engineer himself and recipient of the U.S. Black Engineer of the Year – Special Recognition in 1995, Williams talked about how he and the other members of the Centennial Seven have spent time every February since 2000 mentoring midshipmen, as well as mentoring younger students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which the engineers at Carderock also do regularly.
“In the first 100 years of the Submarine Force, there were seven African-American commanding officers of Navy submarines,” Williams said. “In the first 15 years [of this century], we’ve had five, with more in the pipeline and more to follow. That’s a great improvement, but we cannot stop there.”
In discussing this year’s African American History Month theme of Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African-American Memories, Williams talked about how his commute takes him past Arlington National Cemetery every day, and how this month honors the three African-American Medal of Honor recipients from the Civil War laid to rest there and all the black service members who have followed.
“Of course, my dad, Master Chief (ret) Mel Sr. and I are not quite ready to go to Arlington,” Williams said.
In addition to serving as the commanding officer as the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska (SSBN 739) (Gold), Williams also served aboard the submarines USS Woodrow Wilson (SSBN 624) (Gold), USS Louisville (SSN 724) and USS Jack (SSN 605). He was also commander of Submarine Squadron 4 aboard Nebraska; was director of global operations, U.S. Strategic Command; and deputy commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command; among other assignments before retiring from naval service as the commander of the Norfolk, Virginia-based 2nd Fleet in 2010. In his post at The George Washington University, he continues to work with service members and veterans pursuing their education today.
To read more about the Centennial Seven and other African American trailblazers naval trailblazers, read about The African American Experience in the U.S. Navy at http://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/diversity/african-americans.html.