Lt. Cmdr. Laurel Gill, a native of La Jolla, won the Navy golf championship recently and earned third place in the Armed Forces tournament.

“The first tournament takes the best golfers in the Navy to compete for a spot on the Navy Team,” said Gill. “The top three women and top six men compete at the Armed Forces Championship against the other services. I won the Navy championship and came in third at the Armed Forces Championship.”
Gill currently serves as the officer in charge of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Reserve Detachment in Jacksonville, Fla.
Naval Oceanography ensures the U.S. Navy maintains freedom from the ocean floor to the stars.
Sailors and civilians working throughout Naval Oceanography collect, measure, and analyze the elements of the physical environment (land, sea, air, space). They synthesize a vast array of oceanographic and meteorological data to produce forecasts and warnings in support of the safety of flight and navigation.
“Naval Oceanography operates simultaneously at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of warfare in every theater around the globe,” said Rear Adm. Ron Piret, commanding officer, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command. “We pride ourselves in our ability to characterize the battle space and then predict changes in the environment over time. Every ship that sails, every aircraft that takes flight, every submarine that dives beneath the surface of the ocean has to go to sea with the information that Naval Oceanography provides.”
Naval Oceanography personnel demonstrate expertise in Hydrography, Geospatial Information and Services (GIS), datum issues, and Tactical Decision Aids (TDA). They combine knowledge of the operating environment with a thorough understanding of warfighting capabilities to assess and predict environmental impacts on friendly and enemy platforms, sensors, and weapon systems.
Serving in the Navy means Gill is part of a team that is taking on new importance in America’s focus on strengthening alliances, modernizing capabilities, increasing capacities, and maintaining military readiness in support of the National Defense Strategy.
With more than 90 percent of all trade traveling by sea, and 95 percent of the world’s international phone and internet traffic carried through fiber optic cables lying on the ocean floor, Navy officials continue to emphasize the importance of accelerating America’s advantage at sea.
“Maintaining the world’s best Navy is an investment in the security and prosperity of the United States, as well as the stability of our world,” said Adm. Mike Gilday, chief of Naval Operations. “The U.S. Navy — forward deployed and integrated with all elements of national power—deters conflict, strengthens our alliances and partnerships, and guarantees free and open access to the world’s oceans. As the United States responds to the security environment through integrated deterrence, our Navy must continue to deploy forward and campaign with a ready, capable, combat-credible fleet.”
As Gill and other sailors and civilians continue to train and perform missions, they take pride in keeping fellow sailors and civilians safe and serving their country in the United States Navy.
“I love being a part of the oceanography community,” said Gill. “My degree is in oceanography so it’s great to be able to serve in an area I’m so passionate about.”
Naval Oceanography directs and oversees more than 2,500 globally-distributed military and civilian personnel who collect, process, and exploit environmental information to assist Fleet and Joint Commanders in all warfare areas to make better decisions, based on assured environmental information, faster than the adversary.