Instructors
LCDR Tara Lambert, USN (RET)
LCDR Tara Lambert enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July 1989 and served as a Hospital Corpsman and Surgical Technician until 1995. Her enlisted duty stations included Naval Hospital Charleston, S.C.; Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Va.; and Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Fla. She was selected for the Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training (BOOST) program in 1995 and entered the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Fla. She graduated in December 1999 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography and a minor in History and Religion and was commissioned as an Ensign in the Meteorology and Oceanography community.
Following her commission, ENS Lambert was assigned to the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Center Norfolk, Va., serving as the Command and Hurricane Duty Officer responsible for meteorology support to operating units in COMLANTFLT, USFJFCOM, and SOUTHCOM from 2000 to 2003. She reported to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., in 2003 where she received a Master of Science in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography in 2005.
LT Lambert became the Officer- in-Charge of the Naval Oceanography Anti-Submarine Warfare Detachment Whidbey Island and the Naval Oceanography Anti-Submarine Warfare Component Bangor, Wash., from 2005 to 2009. She had additional duties as staff Oceanographer officer to COMPATRECONWING TEN and COMSUBGRU NINE.
From 2009 to 2011 LCDR Lambert served as the Meteorologists and Oceanographer Officer for the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) during a Seventh Fleet deployment. She reported to Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Professional Development Center in Gulfport, MS as the Executive Officer in 2011. LCDR Lambert was assigned to the Operations Department at the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Center, Stennis Space Center, MS in Jan 2014. She retired in December 2014 after 25 years of honorable service.
Her personal decorations include the Navy Meritorious Medal, Navy Commendation Medal (four awards), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and other personal and unit awards.
MC Steven Turo, USN (RET)
Master Chief Turo is a native of Genoa New York and a graduate of Southern Cayuga Central High School. He enlisted in the Navy in October 1993 and attended Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, IL followed by AMH “A” School in Millington, TN. From there he attended Naval Air Crew Candidate School and Aviation Rescue Swimmer School in Pensacola, FL where he was meritoriously promoted to Third Class Petty Officer followed by Fleet Replacement Aircrew training in San Diego, CA. Master Chief Turo’s first assignment was to HC-5 in Guam, where he completed multiple deploymentsand qualified as an H-46D Crew Chief, an Air Frames and Power Plants Collateral Duty Inspector, and an Ariel Door Gun Instructor.
he became the Search and Rescue and Helicopter Inland Rescue Standardization Petty Officer. He
earned his HH-1N full systems Quality Assurance Representative designation, a Federal Aviation
Administration Air Frame and Power Plants license, and was promoted to Petty Officer First Class.
Assurance Representative on the H-46D and was designated Safe for Flight on the H-46D and H-60S
platforms. He deployed onboard the USS Iwo Jima for its maiden voyage following 9/11, was selected as
HC-8 2003 Aircrewman of the Year, and was advanced to Chief Petty Officer in September 2004.
became Parasail Department Leading Chief Petty Officer followed by Department Head. He qualified as a
High-Risk Training Instructor, Naval Aviation Water Survival Training Instructor, a Master Training
Specialist, and was selected as the 2007 and 2008 Naval Operational Medicine Institute Senior Instructor
of the Year. He graduated with his Bachelor’s degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
2010 he deployed to the 2515 Naval Air Ambulance Detachment in Basrah, Iraq as the Senior Enlisted
Leader where he earned an Air Medal and Army COM. In 2012 he deployed once again to the 2515, but
this time to Camp Buehring, Kuwait as the Senior Enlisted Leader and led the Sun Down of the
detachment. He was promoted to Senior Chief in June 2013.
Aviation Rescue Swimmer School Leading Chief Petty Officer. He managed a 2.3-million-dollar
renovation project on the training facility, implemented a long overdue curriculum revision, and was
Combat Weapons School Pacific and serves as Command Senior Enlisted Leader.
Master Chief Turo has accumulated more than 3,000 flight hours in the CH-46D, UH-1N, and MH-60S
airframes.
awards), Army Commendation Medal (two awards), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (six
awards), Military Outstanding Volunteered Service Medal (two awards), and various campaign, unit, and
sea service-related awards.