Admiral Robert j. Natter (rtn) On June 23rd, 2005, thanks to NL member Mr. Jim Nelson’s (Lockheed Martin) intervention we were honored to count Admiral Robert J. Natter (ret.) as guest speaker. Admiral Natter, whom, as NL Director Mr.James Levy, vociferously proud of being American, would not stop from pointing out during the dinner, “...commanded the world’s largest navy...,” by merely being in charge of a “small” fleet of 160.000 sailors and marines, 162 ships and 1200 aircraft as well as the 18 major shore stations providing training, maintenance and logistics support to the Atlantic Fleet! ... “No mean feat;” he enlisted in the Naval Reserve as a seaman recruit at the age of 17 and after graduating from the Naval Academy rapidly rose through the military ranks!! He is a recipient of the Silver Medal, four Awards of the Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal with Combat V and the Purple Heart amongst others. Since his command performances are so numerous we will cite the most important: Officer in Charge of a Naval Special Warfare in Vietnam; Ship Commander and Commander of the US Seventh Fleet in Asia; First Commander of the newly established US Fleet Forces Command. (2001) He was responsible for establishing and implementing Navy-wide policies for manning, equipping and training all Atlantic and Pacific Fleet ships and aircraft squadrons. First Naval Component Commander to the US Northern Command established in October 1st, 2002 in response to the Global war on terrorism. He exercised operational control over east and west coast Navy and Coast Guard forces conducting missions in support of homeland defense. Admiral Natter is a distinguished graduate of the Naval War College and holds Master Degrees in Business Management and International Relations.