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.
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| A combined MH-60S and HH-60H flight, one of the last for the HH-60H |
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| 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.
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| Forum at Wharton |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| A big bonefish despite a rookie cast! |
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| 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!
I've talked to the kids about how this effects their day to day and Peter & Lucy seem to understand. They haven't asked once to go visit a friend and they're only mildly disappointed that many of their activities are canceled. I'm a little sad that we will likely not have a baseball season this year, we really loved Peter's team and he seemed to be enjoying it. After a year of being scared and nervous of getting up to bat he has tackled that fear and crushed a few hits into the outfield and has grinned from ear to ear while running the bases. We incentivize him by paying him to different outcomes at the plate and I can't decide if this is good parenting or not, but he loves money and $2 seems to be enough to get him to stay in the batters box and swing instead of hoping for a walk. John also started teeball with Brendan and Allen Peacock as his coaches and he adores it. We are very sad his season is likely over too and watching 4 year olds try to play baseball is some of the most fun you can have on a Saturday morning.
We did get to go on the 4th grade field trip to St. Augustine - I had a great time with Peter and his friends and had many memories of Edna running around buying as much candy as she could. Peter and his friends bought cheap brass rings with their names on them and Colleen Tenney and I joked that Peter and Dylan will exchange theirs with each other. :)
The girls are also doing art classes at Creative Jane Orlando and they both seem to love it but I especially am happy for Lucy to have that outlet. They bring home really fun projects and I'm glad to have found something that fits into our schedule that is just for Lucy. Addy goes too...but mostly because she doesn't want to be left out. Addy's in Kindergarten finally and she loves it. She really never enjoyed preschool and always thought she was too old to be in a class with any of her preschool classmates - she LOVES being at school with Peter especially. Her teacher is Mrs. Downing who we all really like. 
Samuel Taylor Elliott was born on September 18 just a few days after his official estimated arrival. We survived the summer heat by staying at the YMCA splash pad for hours and thankfully Charles entertained himself while I sat in the cool water. Sam was born healthy, for which we are incredibly thankful. As with Charles, our first 6 months were rough on the amount of sleep but we barely remember that time anyway. Sam's nickname is smiling Sam and it is fitting. He is, without a doubt, the happiest baby I have ever been around. These days you can find him on his 3-wheeled scooter bug races around the house, or laughing hysterically as he tries to bonk your head with his, or throwing a fit when you try to take him out of the swing, or reading every single book he lays his eyes on.
Charles loved being a big brother from day one, enjoying playing, teaching, and generally entertaining Sam. Spencer and I are now realizing that we might have expected just a bit too much of Charles as we notice that Sam is just a month shy of Charles' age when Charles became a big brother. He is something special -- just don't expect him to forget anything you've said or done. Charles loves that he is big enough to get to the park without having to ride in the stroller and usually insists on going down the big slides. His best friend is his 3 year old neighbor, Leo. They'll play trains, chase each other, and sing with each other for as long as we will let them. Often Leslie and I have a train belonging to the other family waiting to exchange the next time. Charles also still loves his school and seems to have made an impression on all the parents that see him at drop-off / pick-up. He stops to ask questions or tell a story about every 2 steps or so. It's testing my patience but I also love watching him learn.
We've moved houses since the last update and are still enjoying getting together in the cul-de-sac with our neighbors and their kids. Most of them are boys around Charles' age so that makes for a fun and growing "bike gang". Our streets are safe enough for them to ride and for us to enjoy a cold beverage with friends. There is also a park barely a 5 minute walk from our front door with 2 playgrounds, some ball fields, tennis courts, and a paved loop so we've been especially grateful for that.
