There are five US Military Service Academies: Army at West Point, Navy/Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines, each an undergraduate college that provides education and training to develop future commissioned officers and leaders. To graduate is a significant achievement and distinguishes that young officer as someone special who should do great things for our country.  Our Veteran this month is a 1975 graduate of the Naval Academy, John Kittler.

John grew up in Rock Island, IL and always knew he would be going to Annapolis, especially after having three brothers and an uncle who graduated there, apparently a family tradition!  From 1935 to 2005, someone in John’s family was on military duty, amassing over 200 years of service!

John was interviewed and accepted into the Navy Nuclear Power program by “the” Admiral Hyman Rickover, the “Father of Nuclear Power,” who developed naval nuclear propulsion and led it for decades. The interview was bizarre and scary because John was kicked out of the Admiral’s office three times due to miscommunication about the conflict between his grades and striper (Midshipman Officer) duties which enhance leadership opportunities and experience. He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering and became the “Nuke Power Anchorman,” lowest in his class to qualify aboard ship.

Nuclear Power qualification was rigorous: a year at school and a prototype reactor plant, then on to the USS Eisenhower commissioning crew.  Most of John’s 30-year career was on the east coast, serving on 14 different ships and shore stations.  Assignments included Military Officer in Charge on an oiler operated by Merchant Marines providing refueling to the fleet, winning a battle efficiency award.  He conducted the reserve mobilization for Haiti operations in 1994 and spent three years revamping reserve recall programs to the current capability.  He was Commanding Officer (CO) for an anti-piracy unit, then CO for a Naval Coastal Warfare Squadron, a Port Security and Harbor Defense (PSHD) Unit, that deployed to Portugal for a NATO exercise.  He then rose to be the Group Logistics/Maintenance officer for the 23 PSHD units deployed after 9/11 and was additionally the Project Manager for the 34’ Dauntless Security Boat, used both in the war on terror and now in Ukraine.  John retired from the Navy in 2005 as a Captain and Deputy Commander for the Group. He soon went to work at NSA PC and then at the PSHD Program Office.

Today, John stays busy operating his non-profit, “Florida Veterans Communities” assisting Veterans in danger of becoming homeless by providing furniture and filling gaps in services.  He’s lived in PCB since 2005 and near Bay Point since 2014. 

Thank you, John, for the amazing service you gave and are still giving today!