Rear Adm. Forrest O. Young

Commander, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) Eight

28 July 2025

Rear Admiral Forrest Young was raised in the National Capital Region and is a graduate of U.S. Naval Academy. He holds a master’s degree from the U.S. Naval War College and is also a graduate of the War College’s Maritime Advanced Warfighting School. He is a career naval aviator and graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN).

Assignments at sea include Commander Carrier Air Wing 5 (Forward Deployed Naval Forces Japan) and Commanding Officer Strike Fighter Squadron 105 (VFA-105). He also served as a department head at VFA-105, the training officer at VFA-27, and as a junior officer in VFA-137. He has completed nine carrier deployments supporting Operations Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom flying over 80 combat missions.

Ashore assignments include instructor duty at the Strike Fighter Weapons School Pacific, liaison officer to the National Counter Terrorism Center for U.S. Special Operations Command, assignments officer at Navy Personnel Command (NPC), and Director Aviation Officer Distribution (PERS-43) at NPC.

As a Flag Officer, he served as Director of Operations and Plans, N3, at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations prior to assuming command of Carrier Strike Group EIGHT in June 2025.

He has accumulated over 3,800 flight hours and over 1,100 arrested landings on 10 different aircraft carriers.