Blake Converse

Hometown: Montoursville, PA

PSU Connection: Graduate

PSU Graduation Year: 1987

Degree Type: Bachelors

Major of Study: Mechanical Engineering

Memorable moment in your Penn State career: Most memorable moment was meeting my wife and playing in a wide range of the intramural sports teams that PSU offers.

Active Duty or Veteran: Active Duty

Branch: Navy

Rank: Rear Admiral

Rate/MOS: Commander, Submarine Force, US. Pacific Fleet

Where/when did you serve: USS Lapon, USS Olympia, USS Minneapolis-St.-Paul, USS Louisiana, Submarine Squadron 6; 1987 – Present

Awards: Defense Superior Service, Meritorious Service Medal, the Rear Admiral Jack N. Darby Award for Inspirational Leadership and Excellence of Command

What was your favorite military assignment/duty station and why? My favorite assignment was command of the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine USS Louisiana (SSBN 743) (Blue). There’s nothing more satisfying than serving your country, working with, training and leading our bright young Sailors, and doing that work on a nuclear-powered submarine — one of the most complex engineering marvels we have ever built.

Blake Converse, Navy, is currently serving as the Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. The Converse family is a Penn State family.  He met his wife, Amy, while they were both undergraduates at Penn State and now their sons, Samuel and Ben, follow in their footsteps. Samuel graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and Ben is a current student majoring in physics.  Blake credits the work ethic he learned at Penn State with teaching him how to succeed, “I learned to work hard, keep your nose to the grindstone and never give up.”  He works with his counterpart in the Atlantic Fleet to set the vision and develop the concepts for how the U.S. submarine force will fight in the future; concepts including unmanned underwater vehicles, extended range torpedoes, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.  Blake is a 1987 mechanical engineering graduate.