Rear Admiral Henderschedt Named as Defense Attaché in Beijing

 We are pleased to announce that recently promoted Rear Admiral Tom Henderschedt has been selected as the Defense Attache in Beijing. Rear Admiral Henderschedt is one of the Navy’s most knowledgeable “China Hands”, a true China expert with three China attache tours under his belt.

Admiral Henderschedt graduated from George Washington University in 1992. His early assignments were aboard USS HELENA (SSN 725) and as an exchange officer with the Royal Navy in Faslane, Scotand.

Admiral Henderschedt has already served three China attache tours, including unprecedented Naval attache duty on both sides of the Taiwan Strait as Assistant Naval Attache, Beijing, People’s Republic of China (2006-2009), Navy Liaison and Deputy Chief, American Institute in Taiwan (2014-2016), and Naval Attache, Beijing (2016-present).

Additional China-related tours include China Submarine Analyst, Joint Intelligence Center, Pacific (JICPAC), for which he was recognized as the USCINCPAC Junior Intelligence Officer of the Year; Assistant N2, Carrier Strike Group THREE (CSG-3) for the commencement of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM and CTF-70/Battle Force SEVENTH FLEET; Office of Naval Intelligence; Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, SEVENTHFLT; and Special Assistant to the National Intelligence Manager for East Asia.

To add to his expertise on China, Admiral Henderschedt received a master’s degree in China Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), graduating with distinction. Concurrently, as the Navy’s 2012-2013 Samuel Eliot Morison Scholar, he examined the U.S.-PRC military-to-military relationship in the context of the Chinese political system.

Admiral Henderschedt is a recipient of the Rear Admiral Edwin Layton award for leadership in Naval Intelligence and is a graduate of the Submarine Officer Basic Course, Naval Intelligence Officer Basic and Mid-Career Courses, and the Joint Military Attache? School. He received a master’s degree from the Army Command and General Staff College. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and is a graduate of the Mandarin language program at Wenhua University, Taipei, Taiwan. He is qualified in Submarines and Information Dominance.