Captain Karl Rau, formerly of China Grove, recently completed 28 years active duty service and retired from the U.S. Navy. In his final tour, Rau served as the Commanding Officer of the 1,300-person Fleet and Industrial Supply Center in Jacksonville, Fla.
Rau is the son of Barbara S. Rau of Salisbury and the late Rev. Harry L. Rau Jr. He and his wife, the former Brenda Haynes of Salisbury, have two daughters, Laura and Rebecca.
Rau was awarded the Legion of Merit (gold star in lieu of second award) during a Change of Command and Retirement ceremony held Nov. 6 aboard the Naval Air Station, Jacksonville.
Rau is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.; the Advanced Management Program at Duke University; and the Advanced Program in Logistics and Technology (LOGTECH) at UNC-Chapel Hill. He has been designated by the International Society of Logistics as a Certified Public Logistician (CPL).
Rau is a designated Navy Acquisition Professional and achieved warfare qualifications as both a naval aviation supply officer and a surface warfare supply corps officer.
Highlights of his service include a deployment to the Persian Gulf aboard USS HALYBURTON (FFG-40) in support of the first Gulf War in 1991 and a deployment around South America and Cape Horn aboard USS NIMITZ (CVN-68) in the days immediately following 9/11 in the fall of 2001.
Barbee completes top level training
Army National Guard Col. Paul D. Barbee has graduated from the U.S. Army War College Department of Distance Education program at Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, Pa. The college is the Army’s senior educational institution.The program prepares officers of all U.S. military services, as well as civilian officials of the federal government, to serve in top-level command and staff positions worldwide. The curriculum trains students to better grasp the fundamentals of war and obtain a broader and deeper understanding of the reasons why people fight, nature of conflict and the conduct of war at the strategic level.
The commander of the 449th Theater Aviation Brigade based in Balad, Iraq, Barbee has 25 years of military service. He is the son of Perry M. and Doris R. Barbee of Salisbury and earned a master’s degree in 2000 from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona, Fla.