User:Dlkeller999

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DARRELL LYNN KELLER, JR. is the son of Darrell Lynn Keller, Sr and his first wife, Lynda Sue Hoyle, daughter of Loyd Harold Hoyle and Sue Alice Crawley. He was born in 1974 at Jacksonville, Onslow County, North Carolina, USA. He married Lynn Boganski 29 April 2000 at Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii.

At a young age, he joined the Boy Scouts of America and at the age of 16, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout with Bronze, Gold and Silver Palms. He lettered in Varsity Basketball and in 1992, he graduated with a Scholar's Diploma from Bessemer City High School in Gaston County, North Carolina. He began his Freshman year at the University of North Carolina at Asheville the following Autumn.

Contents 1 Military Career 2 Medals and Ribbons 3 Activities 4 Issue

[edit] Military Career

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 completed both Intelligence Specialist 'A' and 'C' schools and worked for the Atlantic Intelligence Command, Norfolk, Virginia. 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 primary flight training with VT-10 (Class 98-01), he went to the Joint Undergraduate Navigation Training at the 562 Flying Training Squadron (Class 99-01) in San Antonio, Texas and was designated a Naval Flight Officer in September 1998. He completed the P-3C Fleet Replacement Squadron (VP-30) at NAS Jacksonville, Florida in 1999 and reported to the VP- 4 Skinny Dragons (Combat Aircrew 3) at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base, Hawaii. He was promoted to Lieutenant, Junior Grade (LTJG) in Aug 1999.

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 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. He was promoted to Lieutenant (LT) in August 2001. During his tour with VP-4, he was designated Patrol Plane Tactical Coordinator (TACCO) and Mission Commander (MC). His job assignments while assigned to VP-4 included Legal Officer, Freedom of Information/Privacy Act Coordinator, Casualty Assistance Calls Officer (CACO), Aviation Electronics (AE) Branch Officer, Command Managed Equal Opportunity Officer (CMEO), and Assistant Administration Department Head.

He reported to the Naval Research Laboratory Flight Support Detachment at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland in November 2002. He served as Administration Department Head, Legal Officer, Assistant Operations Officer, and was the Primary Naval Flight Officer Instructor 'Blue Card'. In 2005, he completed a second BA in Philosophy at St Mary's College of Maryland. 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.

He served onboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) as a Tactical Action Officer from October 2005 to October 2007 where he deployed for a second combat tour in support of OPERATIONS IRAQI and ENDURING FREEDOM. He completed a MA in Liberal Studies at Excelsior College in 2006 and immediately began work on a second MA in Humanities from Salve Regina University. He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) in August 2007. He reported to the Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command at San Diego, California in October, 2007.

[edit] Medals and Ribbons

Naval Flight Officer Wings
2 Navy Commendation Medals
3 Navy Achievement Medals
1 Unit Citation Ribbon
2 Meritorious Unit Citation Ribbons
3 Battle "E" Efficiency Ribbons
1 Navy Reserve Meritorious Service Medal
2 National Defense Service Medals
1 Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
1 Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
1 Global War On Terrorism Service Medal
3 Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbons
1 Navy Pistol Qualification Ribbon/Sharpshooter

[edit] Activities

Active in politics, LCDR Keller is registered as a Republican in his home precinct of KM2 – Kings Mountain #2, Cleveland County, North Carolina. He is an active member of the Republican National Committee (RNC). Other activities include coaching sports at the local YMCA and is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA), where he is known simply as Keller De Asheville, and the National Eagle Scout Association. He is also a member of the North Carolina Genealogical Society. In 2008, he authored an 1100-page genealogical history entitled, "The Keller Family - The Descendants of Anthony Keller, 1710 - 1783."

[edit] Issue

Darrell and Lynn have four children:

1) Darrell Lynn Keller, III
2) Presley Miles Keller
3) Aubrey Nelson Keller, twin brother of Dakota Reagan Keller
4) Dakota Reagan Keller, twin sister of Aubrey Nelson Keller