Message to NNOA President & Members:

My personal work ethic comes from my parents, two of the hardest working people I know. I had my first job in 6^th grade delivering my hometown newspaper after school. During my freshman year of high school, I started working in the circulation department of my hometown newspaper where I worked for five years. My experience working in the newspaper business taught me lifelong lessons about leadership and the value of hard work.

Leadership Philosophy

• Dignity & Respect – Treat everyone the way you want to be treated regardless of their job title or status in life.
• Humility – Be humble and remember where you came from. Don’t get caught up in the perks of your job.
• Integrity – Do the right thing even when no one is watching. Choose the hard right, not the easy wrong.
• Transparency – Communicate early and often with your team. Be open and honest.
• Compliance – Follow the rules. If you discover something is not being done in accordance with regulations, fix it. When we make mistakes, own up to them. Ask questions – If you don’t know, ask. Never hesitate to ask questions because this is how we all learn.
• Relationships Matter – Building professional relationships is important. Don’t burn any bridges because you never know when you may need someone else’s help.
• Humor – Keep a sense of humor and a thick skin. Choose to have a good attitude. Life is too short not to laugh and smile every day.

Bio

Captain Brooks is a native of Mt. Pleasant, TX and he graduated from Saint Louis University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics and as a recipient of the distinguished Oliver L. Parks award for outstanding leadership, academic achievement, and service. He earned a Master of Science in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2004. He was commissioned as a Navy Officer upon completion of Officer Candidate School in December 1995 and was designated a Naval Flight Officer upon completion of Joint Specialized Undergraduate Navigator Training in May 1997. He became a Navy Human Resources Officer in May 2008.

He completed operational assignments with the “Ironmen” of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Three (VQ-3) from August 1997 to August 2000 as a Naval Flight Officer onboard the E-6B (Mercury) where he qualified as a Navigator, Airborne Communications Officer, and Mission Commander; USS Nimitz (CVN 68) as a Catapult and Arresting Gear Officer from November 2003 to September 2006; and USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) as the Training Officer from May 2008 to May 2010.

Ashore, he served two tours of duty at the 562nd Flying Training Squadron as an Instructor Navigator where he trained Navy, Air Force, and International Student Navigators. He also served as the Assistant Director of Operations and was recognized as the squadron’s Company Grade Officer of the Year in 2001 and Flight Commander of the Year in 2002. During his second instructor tour, he served as a staff instructor at the squadron’s Instructor Training School and was recognized as an “Exceptionally Qualified” Instructor in January 2007. He did an induvial augmentee assignment as the Assistant Officer in Charge of the Manpower and Personnel (N1) Individual Augmentation Cell at U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in 2006. He completed a joint assignment as a Division Chief in the Manpower and Personnel Directorate (J1) at U. S. Transportation Command from June 2010 to January 2013 and he was also dual hatted as Executive Officer of the Navy Element. He served as Executive Officer of Recruit Training Command, the Navy’s only boot camp, from February 2013 to June 2015. At Navy Personnel Command, he served as Deputy Director of the Distribution Management Division (PERS-45) from July 2015 to February 2017. Captain Brooks served as the 19th Commanding Officer of the Naval Education and Training Professional Development Center in Pensacola, FL from March 2017 to October 2019. After completing his major command tour, he served as a Navy Fellow in the Global Talent Organization at LinkedIn in San Francisco, CA as part of the Secretary of the Navy Tours with Industry (SNTWI) program from November 2019 to July 2020. Captain Brooks reported to Naval Service Training Command in Great Lakes, IL in August 2020 where he is serving as the Director of Operations until taking over as the Chief of Staff on 1 April 2021.