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New York Sailors are Promoted in the N.Y. Naval Militia

Latham, NY (09/01/2020) — Two Sailors assigned to the New York Naval Militia have been promoted during a ceremony at New York National Guard headquarters in Latham on Sept. 1.

James Miller, an Ellenville, N.Y. resident, was promoted to Senior Chief Petty Officer, the second highest rank in the Navy. His career began in 1970 when he joined the Navy, after which he joined the New York Army National Guard in 1976, retiring in 2013 as a Master Sgt.

Keith White, an East Fishkill, N.Y. resident, was promoted to the rank of Machinist Mate (Petty Officer) 2nd Class. White spent four years in the Coast Guard beginning in 1995 before spending another four years in the New York Army National Guard. After a 17 year break in service, he returned to service in the New York Naval Militia in 2019.

The pair were promoted in front of a bell that once belong to the USS Flusser, a U.S. Navy destroyer commissioned in 1920. The 40 lb bell once signaled the time on the vessel which was used to train Navy Reservists in the 1920s, before the ship was scrapped in 1930. The bell is now on loan to and on display at the New York National Guard headquarters.

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