A Milford, Delaware, native, Captain Abbott graduated with the class of 2001 from the U.S. Naval Academy, earning a B.S. in Political Science and later a M.S. in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. His sea tours include a tour of duty in USS CROMMELING (FFG 37) deploying to the South Pacific, followed by a tour in USS JAMES E. WILLIAMS (DDG 95) where he served as the commissioning Navigator. Captain Abbott’s first Department Head tour was in USS MCFAUL (DDG 74) as Operations Officer, where he deployed to the 5th Fleet AOR with the DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER Strike Group. His second Department Head tour was also as Operations Officer, making the maiden BMD deployment of USS VELLA GULF (CG 72) to the 6th Fleet AOR.
Captain Abbott served as Executive Officer in and then commanded USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (DDG 81); during this time WINSTON S. CHURCHILL completed a 5th/6th Fleet deployment, a $17M CNO availability, and the Basic/Advanced phases. After his command tour, Captain Abbott served as Surface Operations Officer and Operations Officer for Carrier Strike Group EIGHT deploying to the 6th Fleet AOR strengthening the NATO alliance and projecting maritime power into eastern Europe during high tensions due to the Russia/Ukraine crisis. Commander Abbott’s shore duty assignments include serving as Integrated Air and Missile Defense Section Head for Assessments Division of the OPNAV Staff (N81), where he was responsible for the management of studies and assessments in support of programmatic decisions for naval capabilities. Following his Pentagon assignment, Commander Abbott served as N3 for Afloat Training Group, Norfolk, where he was responsible for scheduling and oversight of all Basic Phase events for ships home ported in Norfolk, as well as Forward Deployed Naval Forces in Europe and Bahrain.
Commander Abbott’s awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (4), Navy Commendation Medal (2), and the Navy Achievement Medal (2), as well as various unit awards. He reported to the Joint Staff as Division Chief for Special Technical Operations Division, Deputy Director for Global Operations (J39) in September of 2022.