Cape County Commissioner Tracy promoted to captain in Navy Reserves

Clint Tracy was a naval commander when he answered a call from an old Navy buddy earlier this month. He had no idea he would leave that call as a captain select.

“You haven’t seen the message yet?” his friend asked, referring to the Navy’s official list of commanders who will be promoted to captain effective Oct. 1. “Well,” he told Tracy, “you’re on it.”

Tracy, Cape Girardeau County presiding commissioner, was commissioned by the Navy in 1996 and is currently in the reserves. But, he said his interest began when he moved to Cape Girardeau in 1978.

“My neighbor was a World War II veteran who would tell me stories about serving on board ships in the South Pacific,” Tracy said. “He was one of my first heroes.”

That interest grew as Tracy entered his teen years.

“I was probably in junior high, or maybe even before, when (the movie) ‘Top Gun’ came out, and I said, ‘Sign me up,” he quipped.

But the leap from commander to captain is no laughing matter. Promotions at the senior officer level are highly competitive, as congress only authorizes a limited number of promotions each year. The Navy’s Reserve Officer Promotion Selection Board prepares a list of individuals and forwards it through the chain of command, which submits the final list to the U.S. Senate for confirmation

Seventy commanders in Tracy’s field, the Supply Corps, were eligible for promotion this year, according to the Navy Personnel Command website. He was one of only 10 to make the cut.

“This process has definitely taught me perseverance,” said Tracy, who was not promoted during his first year of eligibility in 2019. “When you’re doing your best, sometimes there are just others who are doing better.” But, he said, “You can’t be discouraged. You just have to hang in there and continue to press and do things to better yourself. Then, hopefully, in the end it all comes together.”

All elevations in rank bring increased levels of responsibility. While junior officers are expected to learn their trade and to master their platform or weapons system, senior officers must also develop leadership skills for their new roles. A senior officer’s focus is not on operating gear and equipment, Tracy said, but on supervising those who do.

Tracy said that in his experience, captains have been most concerned with making sure junior officers acquire the essential skills to execute their jobs as well as developing qualities to transition into leadership roles themselves.

As a captain, he said, “You have a big responsibility to the folks coming up behind you, to make sure that you get them on the right track for success.”

Tracy said he feels “humbled and blessed” by the promotion experience.

“I’ve had mentors over the years who have been captains,” he said, “so for me to sit back and think, ‘Gee, I’m one of those guys now,’ it really puts it in perspective.”

Among those mentors was Tracy’s longtime friend David Cantrell, a retired Navy captain himself.

“It’s only one more pay grade up,” said Cantrell, “but it is like Mr. Armstrong’s one step on the moon.” A captain’s performance “is measured not just by his own accomplishments, but by the accomplishments of those he leads,” he said.

Cantrell and Tracy met when both were in a unit of the Reserve Center in St. Louis, where Tracy was the supply officer serving under Cantrell, the executive officer.

“Clint was a very valuable member of the wardroom in his ability to acquire supplies and provisions that were near impossible for others to get,” Cantrell said. “[He] is a Naval Academy grad, so he was a little brighter and more clever than most.”

When Cantrell became chairman of the Avenue of Flags in Cape County Park North, he had another opportunity to work with Tracy, who is in charge of the park as a county commissioner.

“It was a little different now in our civilian capacity,” Cantrell said. “He didn’t take orders from me, and I needed his permission to do things.”

Regardless of rank, Cantrell said the two had always worked well together, and their new roles allowed him to experience Tracy’s leadership ability firsthand.

“Once again,” he said, “we were both on the same mission, just as civilians, and that was to make the Avenue of Flags and Memorial Plaza the most exceptional memorial we can build to represent our Cape County Veterans.”

“The Navy made a very wise decision to promote Clint, and we are a very fortunate community to have him and his family call Cape their home,” Cantrell said. “Congratulations to my friend, neighbor, and shipmate. Well done, Skipper!”