No ‘Kidd’-ing, La. scout becomes XO

Like many Baton Rouge, La., Boy Scouts before and after him, Navy Cmdr. Matt Noland spent many a night aboard the WWII-era USS Kidd (memorial moored on the river in BR) during elementary school. Unlike all others, he’s going to be spending a great deal of time aboard its modern namesake. Noland, born and reared in Baton Rouge, will become executive officer of the current USS Kidd (DDG 100) in September. If all goes as expected, he will become its commanding officer in about 18 months. For Noland, it’s a special assignment. “It is a very cool coincidence,” he told The Advocate. “There are between 250 and 300 ships in the Navy. For me to get the USS Kidd and to be from Baton Rouge and not just be from there but also be interested in that ship from the time I was a little kid is pretty cool. It is not lost on my family.” (Source: The Advocate 07/28/19) USS Kidd is an Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer that was built at HII-Pascagoula, Miss., during the timeframe of Hurricane Katrina.