James Symonds

Symonds is a native of Sodus, New York.[1] He attended the State University of New York at Albany and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1975.[1] He later was commissioned at the Aviation Officer Candidate School at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida that September and was designated a Naval Flight Officer in July 1976.[1]

Symonds served one operational tour assigned as an A-6 Intruder bombardier/navigator in Attack Squadron 115, aboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway.[1] In 1983, he became a naval aviator after being selected for pilot training and returned to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.[1] He then participated in two additional operational tours with Attack Squadron 196, and was deployed on board USS Constellation and USS Independence amidst Operation Desert Storm.[1]

In October 1992, Symonds was promoted to executive officer of Attack Squadron 165 on USS Nimitz and took full command the following October.[1] In 1995 he attended Navy Nuclear Power Training.[1] Symonds was later assigned as executive officer of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower,[1] and led the ship on a 1998 deployment order to the Mediterranean Sea;[1] he assumed command of USS Nashville in 2001.[1]

USS Ronald Reagan

Symonds oversees an underway replenishment on the navigation bridge of USS Ronald Reagan

Captain Symonds presents the flag that draped President Ronald Reagan's casket to former first lady Nancy Reagan, June 11, 2004

In August 2003 Symonds became commanding officer of USS Ronald Reagan, the Navy's newest aircraft carrier.[3] He presided over the ship's transfer from Norfolk, Virginia to its homeport in San Diego, California.[1]

On June 5, 2004, while Symonds was commanding officer, former president Ronald Reagan, the ship's namesake, died at his home in California. Upon former First Lady Nancy Reagan's request, the commanding officer of USS Ronald Reagan would present her the American flag that draped the president's casket;[4] at the time, it was Symonds.[5] Following a national funeral service in the Washington National Cathedral and six days of public mourning, Symonds presented Nancy Reagan with the flag at President Reagan's gravesite at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library prior to his interment.[5]