Capt. Timothy F. Kinsella Jr., raised in Dublin, Ireland, enlisted in the United States Navy in 1989 and earned his Silver Dolphins as a plank owner aboard USS Kentucky (SSBN 737) in 1991.

He is a 1996 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science, and a 2003 graduate of the University of San Diego, where he earned a Master of Science in Global Leadership.

Kinsella was designated a Naval Aviator in 1998.

Kinsella’s operational assignments include Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 11 (HC-11); as the assistant navigator aboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75); a department head tour with Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 11 (HS-11); and as commanding officer of HS-11.

Ashore, Kinsella served as White House Liaison and later as Protocol Aide to the Secretary of the Navy; Flag Aide to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air Warfare; Division Chief for the Southern Command branch of the Joint Operations Directorate (J-33) on the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C.; and as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Defense Planner for Supreme Allied Commander – Transformation in Mons, Belgium.

Kinsella assumed command of Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola in March 2019.

Kinsella has been awarded the Order of Daedalians Distinguished Airmanship Award; the Naval Helicopter Association Aircrew of the Year award; and the 2009 Navy & Marine Corps Association Leadership Award for Helicopter Sea Combat Wing Atlantic; the Commander, Naval Air Forces Shiphandler of the Year Award; and various unit, campaign and service decorations. In 2021, Kinsella earned the John Paul Jones Award for Inspirational Leadership from the Navy League of the United States.