Rear Admiral David A. Score serves as the Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps) and Director of NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO), the operational arm of NOAA. 

As Director of the NOAA Corps and OMAO, Rear Admiral Score is responsible for the safe, efficient and effective operation of the agency's fleet of research and survey ships and aircraft, as well as guiding the 321 commissioned NOAA officers and approximately 1,000 civilian personnel assigned to OMAO.

Rear Admiral Score previously served as Deputy Director of the NOAA Corps and OMAO’s Deputy Director for Operations. Earlier assignments include: Director of OMAO’s Marine Operations Centers, which oversees all NOAA ship operations, and Commanding Officer of the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia. Before directing NOAA’s Atlantic fleet, Rear Admiral Score commanded NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter, which conducted key research missions during the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill response.

Since his commission as a NOAA Corps officer in 1990, RADM Score has served aboard six NOAA vessels, including NOAA ships Miller Freeman, Ferrel, Nancy Foster and Gordon Gunter. These ships conducted diverse operations from the Bering Sea to the Caribbean Sea. He is also an accomplished NOAA scuba diver and dive master, having supervised more than 2,000 dives.

Rear Admiral Score has served in a variety of management and operational roles at Channel Islands, Gray’s Reef and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuaries. As the superintendent of Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, he oversaw a complex regulatory program and partnerships with three state and six federal agencies.

Rear Admiral Score has a strong record of achievement. He has received two Department of Commerce Bronze Medals, two NOAA Corps Commendation Medals, eight NOAA Corps Achievement Medals, and was selected as the 1999 NOAA Association of Commissioned Officer’s Junior Officer of the Year. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marine biology and advanced research from the Florida Institute of Technology and studied biology at Georgia Southern University.