Former astronaut, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate, and Marine Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden Jr. will be the guest of honor and speaker at the Navy Ball, celebrating the Navy’s 233rd birthday. The event is set for Oct. 10, 6 - 11 p.m. in the Hollywood Volunteer Fire House.
In addition to Bolden’s address, there will also be performances by the U.S. Army Fife and Drum Corps, U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard and the Calvert High School NJROTC Drill Team.
Bolden, a 1968 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, was designated a naval aviator in May 1970, and flew more than 100 combat missions in Southeast Asia. All told, he has logged more than 7,000 flying hours in more than 30 different fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
He graduated from the Test Pilot School here in 1979, and a year later was selected by NASA as an astronaut. Bolden flew four missions aboard the space shuttles Columbia, Discovery and Atlantis, logging more than 680 hours in orbit. His missions assisted in deploying the Hubble Space Telescope, and he commanded the first mission that included a Russian cosmonaut as a mission specialist crew member.
After leaving NASA, Bolden returned to the Marine Corps as the Deputy Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy in June 1994. He was later deputy commanding general, First Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Forces, Pacific; deputy commander, U.S. Forces Japan; and commanding general, Third Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego.
After more than 34 years, Bolden retired from the Marine Corps in January 2003, and is now CEO of a small firm providing leadership, military and aerospace consulting as well as motivational speaking. He has received the Defense Superior Service Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross. In May 2006, Bolden was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.
Ticket sales end Friday
Navy Ball tickets, on sale through tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 3, may be purchased through the Navy Ball Command Representatives. The prices: E1-3 and GS1-3 — $15; E4-5 and GS4-5 — $20; E6 — $25; E7-8, O1-3, CWO2-3 and GS6-12 — $40; E9, O4-5, CWO4-5 and GS13-14 — $45; and O6 and above, GS15 and above, and contractors — $50.
For more information, contact AZC Stephanie Rice at 301-757-8905 or GSMC Marlon Joseph at the NAS Quarterdeck at 301-342-1095.
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