Trials and Transitions

In March after returning from Portofino I told my reserve and active component chain of command that I would not deploy our detachment on time due to lack of materiel and operational readiness.

After the McCain and Fitzgerald collisions at sea, U.S. Pacific Fleet told his Echelon V commanders (me and my peers) that if you were not ready, do not deploy. This was in response to the fact that previous pleas for personnel, materiel, and funding by many PACFLT units were often ignored and delayed in order to meet operations. HSC-85 had it worse as a reserve unit, especially as we transitioned to the MH-60S helicopters, a transition which the active fleet fought tenaciously for irrational and personal reasons.

Despite ADM Aquilino’s statement and years of telling the chain of command we were undermanned for the operational tempo they expected us to meet, my refusal to deploy was met with shock, surprise, and anger.

The entirety of this year was focused on rebuilding our squadron’s reputation and holding my chain of command accountable for what they as leaders owed us. In doing this I made the determination that every decision I made would be geared toward the long-term health and welfare of the squadron and not the immediacy, the route that many of my predecessors went. I do believe that my tenure was a good one and left us better off, but it was exhausting, a word that doesn’t come close to the reality of the effect on me.

In April I traveled to Norfolk to our helicopter community readiness and future needs conference. I leveraged the “attention” our squadron now had to get projects we had asked for for years “fastracked,” meaning I got one of four completed within a year. I drove up to DC the weekend previous and after the conference which was a fun distraction.

Later that month I attended the change of command of HSC-6 in which my good friend James Jerome turned the squadron over the Todd Pike. Todd is as outspoken as I, so it was nice to have him in the CO meetings the next year to take some of the heat off me. I also attended a traveling Cirque de Soleil show that was under a tent which was really cool.

The last flight of the HH-60H was in May. We were supposed to have a ceremony and the flight at HSC-85, as we were the last operational squadron to fly that variant. However, because of our problems getting deployed, they moved the ceremony and flight to HSC-3, the training squadron that flies that helo to train foreign pilots. My good friend Ed Weiler, the CO of HSC-3, reached out and asked if we would like to have some of our people on the flight and we took him up on the offer.

A combined MH-60S and HH-60H flight, one of the last for the HH-60H

Red Wolves and Fire Hawks at the HH-60H sundown ceremony

I also started the Executive MBA program at Wharton (WEMBA) in May. Our first week was spent in Philadelphia with both East and West cohorts. I would spend the next year traveling back and forth to San Francisco every other weekend. While more school – and difficult school – kept me very busy it was also welcome respite from the Navy world.

Forum at Wharton

Ben Franklin welcome to Wharton

June was spent almost exclusively at work getting the detachment ready to deploy, which they did to Australia later in the month. I would go to Australia to visit with the detachment and see their performance in exercise Talisman Sabre. They did a great job and earned many accolades. I traveled with them to Japan to meet with new deployed chain of command leadership in my first face-to-face meeting with them as Commanding Officer.

Night load in Australia

In August the Commanding General for U.S. Special Operations Command came for a short visit to the squadron in San Diego before we flew him around the area as he visited special operations units in the area. This was a great coup for our squadron, which I was able to secure since General Clark’s aide was my USNA classmate Garrett Kulcyzki. We were able to share some of concerns about how the squadron was treated and viewed by the Navy, and how that would negatively affect his command, which paid dividends in the future when we would once again battle to not be shut down.

I went to Anaheim in September with Mack where we saw Mike Freeman play for the Indians. Later that month I traveled to Missouri to attend my former CO Quentin Packard’s wedding to his new wife Rachel, which was another welcome distraction while attending but also was an expensive and non-direct travel experience.

Fall baseball

Once again, we traveled to Nellis AFB in October for detachment training. We had made some great adjustments in how we worked, and the detachment OIC was a trusted friend Gregg Castellucci, who had been my wingman in Iraq. A year had made a measurable difference, which was noticed and appreciated by many members of the squadron. We had a mini celebration with some of the senior officers at a Jimmy Buffett concert while we were in Las Vegas.

Unfortunately, during this time away, we had a Sailor commit suicide back in San Diego. With only a year to go through the full grief process for the Clement death and PTSD some sailors had from the helo ground collision, scars were just reopened as we went through the memorial service and CACO process again.

I came home for about ten days over Thanksgiving and got to play in a Member Guest tournament with Dad. It was fun to be with Dad and realx at CCO. The golf course was in top condition which was great too.

In December we performed a detachment rotation. I also had my second round of final exams from WEMBA, a requirement I conveniently forgot about when I though more school was a good idea! I came home for Christmas and then went out to Japan to see the newly deployed detachment since I would not see them again as Commanding Officer. On the way back I stopped at Special Operations Command in Hawaii to bid farewell to that chain of command.

Sunset flight in Japan

January brought the end of three years as Executive Officer and Commanding Officer of HSC-85. We had the Daltons, Loflins, Elliotts, Suzy and Terry, and Patsy and Ron out to enjoy the ceremony and a few days in San Diego. It was a very different atmosphere than my oncoming change of command, and I counted as a measure of our success the many distinguished guests that we had in attendance. I turned the command over to my friend and classmate Chris Lemon, and the new XO was my longtime friend Joel Voss who had led the delayed detachment to smashing success in the previous six months. Our change of command party was very fun, and I think the whole family enjoyed meeting and talking to many of my colleagues that attended.

The crew at change of command

My plan for the next couple of months was to take leave and try and relax. Some of that was fooling myself as I would have to find a job during that time as well, but I was trying hard to pretend. I went to Breckenridge for a couple days in February with good weather and good company.  In March I had a trip to the Florida Keys planned for fishing and relaxing in Key West. With the onset of the coronoavirus though I cut the trip short after fishing and came up to Orlando. The weather and fishing were awesome though as you’ll see in the pictures.

A big bonefish despite a rookie cast!

Nice little tarpon after a very rewarding cast and float!

As the Mom year comes to an end, there is more transition in progress, which I am looking forward to. My latest stint in the active duty Navy is over, and almost everything to do on exit, including with the VA, is satisfactorily completed. The new unknown is our societal response to the virus. School is remote and will be for the foreseeable future. Job hunting remotely has been hard, as well as trying to decide where I will want to be and what I want to do. For the moment, I am just hoping for a little less stress and more focus on the good parts of these updates!