ADM Steve Abbot, USN (ret)
Homeland Security Advisor
Admiral Steve Abbot retired as a four star Admiral after 34 years in the US Navy. Abbot began his career as a Naval Aviator after graduating from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, US Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, and naval nuclear power training. A Rhodes Scholar and Vietnam Veteran, Admiral Abbot later Commanded the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), and the Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group while assigned as Commander, Carrier Group Eight during the Gulf War. From 1996-2000, Abbot served as Commander of the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet and Deputy Commander in Chief, US European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. In his last military assignment, Abbot oversaw the daily activities of a Unified Command with an area of responsibility encompassing 89 countries and more than 13 million square miles. In the aftermath of the 9/11 Attacks, Abbot was the Deputy Homeland Security Advisor under Governor Tom Ridge, and later Acting Homeland Security Advisor until June 2003. Today, he is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, a private, non-profit aid society dedicated to assisting Sailors, Marines and their families.