Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Comrade Eric "Duke” Dukat joined the VFW as a member-at-large via Middletown Post 4487 while visiting Newport, R.I. on a ship in 2003.

 

After moving to Rhode Island in 2009 to join the faculty at U.S. Naval War College, Duke followed Comrade David Ainslie’s leadership and became a member of his local VFW Post 152 in

North Kingstown as a Life Member in 2012. He has served as the Post’s Judge Advocate and Charter Organization and a representative for their sponsored Boy Scouts of America Troop 152.

 

Duke recently volunteered to take on the Rhode Island Department’s Scouting and Youth Programs Committee and restart engagement and award programs within our communities that know less and less about their Veteran neighbors.

A third-generation Naval Officer and Naval Academy graduate, Comrade Dukat retired from 29 years of active duty service in Spring of 2016 and is a civilian professor at the War College.

Over Duke’s Navy career, he was assigned to four ships, three carriers and six staffs covering missions from humanitarian assistance to counter-terrorism to major theater war on every continent except for Antarctica. Duty locations included Newport, R.I., Staten Island, N.Y., Norfolk, V.A., Pearl Harbor, H.I., Gaeta, Italy and Manama, Bahrain.

As the grandson of two WWII Navy Veterans (Chief Petty Officer and Captain) and son of a Vietnam and Cold War Navy Veteran (Navy Commander), Duke has a deep respect for the past and the culture of service that extended from the Greatest Generation through today. Serving from the Gulf War onward (multiple campaign ribbons and non-combat personal awards), Duke can connect with the issues faced by all of the Post 9-11 Veterans he served and supported. His passion is still serving those who served and are serving now.