Iowa native commands Navy missile ship that blasted spy satellite

Capt. Randall M. Hendrickson, who grew up in Marquette along the banks of the Mississippi River, has been the skipper of the USS Lake Erie since June 2006.

(Special to the Register)
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A northeast Iowa native who graduated from Iowa State University is the commander of the U.S. Navy cruiser that blasted a disabled spy satellite above the Pacific Ocean late Wednesday with a guided missile strike.

Capt. Randall M. Hendrickson, who grew up in Marquette along the banks of the Mississippi River, has been the skipper of the USS Lake Erie since June 2006.

Hendrickson said in a telephone interview Thursday that he graduated from Iowa State in 1983 and still considers himself a “Cyclone at heart.â€