Louis Mosier:  

Life After graduating from Mt Eden High School, I went to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. At the Academy I worked my butt off with my academic and professional studies but somehow had fun in the process. I graduated with merit from the Naval Academy in May 1982 with a BS degree (English major), was commissioned an Ensign, and went to Pensacola, FL, for flight training. I spent just over a year in P-cola for primary and intermediate flight training, and then went to Corpus Christi, TX, for advanced training. I earned my pilot wings in April 1984 and completed Fleet Replacement Squadron training in the P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, a big four-engine, land-based aircraft primarily known as a submarine hunter and surveillance/ reconnaissance platform. I served my first squadron tour in Patrol Squadron Fifty at Moffett Field (Sunnyvale), CA, where I was designated a patrol plane commander (PPC) and mission commander (MC). As a PPC/MC, I led a twelve-man combat aircrew flying in our $40 million aircraft. I also served a range of ground duties; progressing from Command Security Manager to Aviation Safety Officer and then Training Plans Officer. I led my aircrew through two Indian Ocean/Middle East deployments out of Diego Garcia [a British-owned coral atoll smack in the middle of the Indian Ocean]. The second deployment involved numerous sorties in support of Operation Earnest Will, escorting reflagged Kuwaiti tankers in the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea during the Iran-Iraq War. Although Diego Garcia wasn't such a bad place--palm trees and white sand beaches along a deep blue lagoon filled with colorful reef fish (and the occasional hammerhead and white tip reef shark)--it was small and isolated, thus it was nice to get away for detachments. Some locations were exotic and exciting, e.g. Thailand, Sri Lanka and Oman, while other sites weren't so great, like Mogadishu (Somalia) and Djibouti. I next attended Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, where I graduated with distinction and earned an MS in Applied Science (Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) Systems Technology major) in September 1990. For being the top ranked graduate in my curriculum, I received the Chief of Naval Operation's Award for ASW Excellence. Following graduation, I was assigned to the ASW Operations Center in Adak, Alaska (2/3 of the way out the Aleutian Island chain), where I served as Analysis Division Officer, Operations Control Division Officer, and then Task Group Operations Officer. I planned and executed high-intensity ASW operations against patrolling Soviet submarines, as well as naval operational exercises, experiments and sea trials, and was designated a Proven Sub-specialist in ASW (4044Q/R). Adak was an isolated location but offered great outdoor recreation (hunting for ptarmigan and caribou, fishing for salmon and halibut, hiking and birdwatching, etc) as well as being an exciting place from which to track the Soviet subs. After a brief stint as Fleet Services Officer for Patrol Wing Ten at Moffett Field, I completed P-3 refresher training and was assigned to Patrol Squadron Nine at Barbers Point, Hawaii. There I led my aircrew through a deployment out of Diego Garcia in support of Operations Southern Watch (Persian Gulf) and Restore Hope (Somalia), primarily flying in maritime interdiction operations. I served as Admin Officer, Training Officer, and Detachment Officer-in-Charge. I was next assigned to Naval Air Station, Barbers Point (remaining in Hawaii--yes!!!) where I served initially as Weapons Officer and then Air Operations Officer. As Air Ops Officer, I managed the Navy's primary airfield in the central Pacific. When the Naval Air Station was selected for base closure, I played an integral part in the transfer of operational forces (P-3s, SH-60 helicopters, etc.) to Marine Corps Base, Hawaii, the decommissioning of the Air Station, and turnover of the Barbers Point airfield to the State of Hawaii as an operating civilian airfield. My ohana (family) and I loved the laid-back Hawaiian lifestyle and felt like kama'aina (natives), but after six straight years on Oahu--living in paradise--the Navy decided I needed a change of climate and sent me to Iceland. Yes, Iceland. In Iceland I served on the staff of Commander, Fleet Air Keflavik, as Communications Systems Officer, Mission Control and Evaluations Officer, and Tactics Officer, where I controlled and analyzed real-world air ASW prosecutions and numerous NATO exercises/ experiments. My family and I actually loved Iceland. It was a wonderful place to live--despite the dark winters--with beautiful glaciers and waterfalls, fresh air and deep blue ocean, and lots of daylight in the summer. (Also the best fish and lamb I've ever tasted!) We also took advantage of the relatively cheap flights into the rest of Europe; visiting Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany, Austria, Spain, Denmark and the Czech Republic during our 3 yea...Expand for more