Assistant state attorney promoted to rear admiral
U.S. NAVY RESERVES Rear Adm. Matt O’Keefe, left, with Rear. Adm. Jack Scorby, in Washington, D.C.
Assistant state attorney promoted to rear admiral
Senior Editor
Matt O’Keefe has his hands full juggling two jobs.
He’s an assistant state attorney in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, where he serves as division chief in two areas.
He’s also an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves, promoted to rear admiral (lower half) at the Navy Memorial Plaza in Washington, D.C., in October.
“A dual mission closely aligned,” is how the 50-year-old Florida lawyer views his two roles.
“On 9/11, the bad guys took the fight to our backyard. That is unacceptable to us,” O’Keefe said. “So there is an enduring presence of the U.S. military to fight the global war on terror.
“From a global sense, what the U.S. Navy Reserves does is provide security and provide that sense of protection, not only to our national interests, but to our global interests. We partner with our friends to protect democracy and independence and freedom and all those things we hold near and dear to us,” O’Keefe said.
“Humbly, I believe the state attorney does that work, too. We work with our law-enforcement partners in the community to protect our freedom and democracy and safety.”
Sometimes, on short notice, O’Keefe must leave his role prosecuting criminal defendants to others, so he can fulfill his military duties.
His most recent mobilization was spending 15 months at Camp Lemonnier, a U.S. military base in Djibouti, a small country in the Horn of Africa that borders Somalia and is only 17 miles across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen.
As described by The Washington Post in 2012, “Camp Lemonnier, a sun-baked Third World outpost established by the French Foreign Legion, began as a temporary staging ground for U.S. Marines looking for a foothold in the region a decade ago. Over the past two years, the U.S. military has clandestinely transformed it into the busiest Predator drone base outside the Afghan war zone, a model for fighting a new generation of terrorist groups.”
Closer to home, in early October, when Category 2 Hurricane Matthew churned along Florida’s Atlantic Coast, O’Keefe was activated to serve as the Florida National Guard liaison, as well as the Navy’s emergency preparedness liaison officer to help coordinate the Navy’s and the City of Jacksonville’s efforts.
“We had to make sure the Navy was aligned with the City of Jacksonville on messaging, like evacuations. Make no mistake, Mayor [Lenny] Curry was the lead. Whatever he did with his decisionmakers, I made sure the Navy was aligned. When the mayor made the difficult decision to evacuate the beaches, I coordinated that with the Navy. What did they need? The City of Jacksonville was extremely well-equipped and had practiced emergency operations. They needed nothing,” O’Keefe said.
“But the Navy was standing by in case they did, such as rotary-wing helicopters to do rescues. Matthew did a turn to the right and was not as catastrophic as we had feared.”
O’Keefe’s military career began as a college student at Jacksonville University, where he was in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC).
Following graduation, he served eight years of active duty, where he learned to fly helicopters and he transitioned into the reserves. He flew helicopters for 19 years, primarily out of Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville.
After receiving his law degree from the University of Florida in 1998, O’Keefe’s first legal job was at the Fourth Circuit State Attorney’s Office.
He’s been a prosecutor ever since, and never yearned to go into private practice.
“Humbly, it’s the only legal job I’m aware of where my marching orders are simple: Do the right thing every day. I’m not beholden to a client paying me for my services. There’s no hidden agenda. If I do the right thing every day, I can go to sleep with a clear conscience knowing I did my job,” O’Keefe said.
When military duty calls, he has to leave decisions about doing the right thing to his fellow prosecutors.
“I went full-time, and I had to leave the office and leave behind my comrade in arms to carry the load, carry the water,” O’Keefe said of his fellow prosecutors.
“When I go overseas, I have a lot to worry about. But I do not have to worry about coming back to civilian employment or worrying my boss is upset that I’m gone.”
While federal laws protect reservists, O’Keefe points to “a series of incidents that occurred with the U.S. Postal Service, where reservists returned to their jobs with less responsibility, and change in pay.”
“I have amazing support from my office, and have never had that issue,” O’Keefe said. “I can go and do what I need to do and return to open arms, I am extremely blessed.”
With his recent promotion to rear admiral, O’Keefe’s new job is “reserve deputy commander of Navy installations command.”
His responsibilities “can change week to week and month to month. I don’t know what I’m doing to support the Navy in December,” he said in early November.
As he explains: “There are 71 U.S. Navy bases worldwide. My boss runs those bases. We are manning, training, and equipping the folks who serve on the fleets, the fighters, and supporting their families. We like to say we do everything from roads to commodes and everything in between.”
Supporting military families is a big part of the mission, he said.
“Please don’t ever forget that the real sacrifice is made by service members’ family members. Any service member will quickly admit, it’s the easier role, regardless of the setting. When I am gone, my wife has to do everything else. Life does not stop because I leave. The kids, the house, the car, the dog now fall on the shoulders of my wife and two sons. It’s a huge burden. It is a joint sacrifice.
“I could not do what I do to serve my country, without the undying 100 percent commitment of my family.”
And a very understanding boss.
