/Rear Adm. Brian Prindle, commander of Patrol and Reconnaissance Group in Norfolk, Va., views photographs and news clippings of his late father. (Jennifer H. Svan / S&S)

NAVAL AIR FACILITY MISAWA, Japan — Rear Adm. Brian C. Prindle isn’t the first Navy one-star in his family.

His dad, the late Charles O’Brien Prindle, also was a rear admiral when he died while on active duty in 1985.

Both Prindles made a Navy career in maritime patrol and reconnaissance.

Their paths crossed again last week, when the younger Prindle made a stop at Commander Task Force 72 headquarters in Misawa — his second visit since 2002, when the building was named in honor of his father, the Rear Adm. Charles O’Brien Prindle Naval Tactical Support Facility.

While last week’s visit was nostalgic — the son took time to look at newspaper clippings and photographs of his dad hanging on the quarterdeck walls — Brian Prindle came to conduct business.

As commander of Patrol and Reconnaissance Group in Norfolk, Va., he is responsible for training all of the Navy’s maritime patrol and reconnaissance squadrons to ensure they’re ready to deploy around the world. While in Japan, he met with Rear Adm. Arthur Johnson, commander of Patrol and Reconnaissance 5th/7th Fleets, and other Navy commanders in the region.

One challenge facing the force is transitioning to the P-8, a Boeing 737 multimission maritime aircraft slated to replace the P-3. “In 2013, that’s when the first P-8 squadron is to go on deployment,” Prindle said, “and I would not at all be surprised to see it come right here to 7th Fleet.”

Prindle said he believes his late father would be amazed at how the P-3 is used today.

“We’ve adapted to the needs of the nation, starting with when we went into Desert Storm and saw how well the aircraft could perform in an over-land role,” he said. “It’s been paying our nation very big dividends as we pursue the global war on terrorism for the last four years.”