Eric
Gustafson
(Updated November, 2008)
After graduation, I trekked off to the University of Colorado, thanks to a NROTC scholarship. In 1963 I transferred (should I say I got the Navy to allow me to transfer) to the University of New Mexico. It was no accident that Kathe (Worthing) happened to be attending UNM at that time!! Kathe & I both graduated from UNM in 1965, came back to California to get married and then drove across country to Pensacola, FL where I began my 24 year career in the Navy in flight training. Kathe and I went to some interesting places and met some superb people during this "first career". I basically spent the majority of my career in Anti-submarine Warfare (i.e. tracking Russian submarines from the air and our “secret” land-based network like in "Hunt for Red October") except for the two obligatory tours of duty in Viet Nam (in '68 and again in '69), one year as an Admiral's Aide and a year in Washington, DC. We lived in some great places like Big Sur, CA; Ferndale, CA; Barbers Point, HI; Brawdy, Wales, as well as the more common places for Navy folks like San Diego, Washington DC, Norfolk, VA, and San Francisco. During this time we had one son (Brian who is now 38 and a senior software engineer at Google); Kathe obtained her Masters in Public Health from the University of Hawaii (1969); and we moved 29 times. In 1989 I retired as a Captain and we moved to San Diego to be near family and so that Kathe could begin her career in Public Health.
In 1990, I went to work for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), at the time the largest, employee owned, high-tech company in the US (now a public company … “SAI” on the NYSE), doing almost the same thing I did in the Navy; underwater acoustics. This time, however, I was involved in the development, installation and testing of systems for the Navy (acoustics stations for submarine tracking) and the Air Force/United Nations (seismic stations for monitoring nuclear testing). I retired from SAIC in 2004 and have done some consulting work on the deep water seismic network. Recently I have been Australia; Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile; Diego Garcia (Indian Ocean); Ascension Island (South Atlantic); and Wake Island helping to install new seismic stations.
Since my retirement from the military, we have found time for ourselves and have traveled a bit taking 2-week trips to New Zealand, Germany (twice), Scotland, and the southwestern UK. Shorter trips include a train trip across Canada, five cruises, an Alaska land tour (self-guided) and Australia (Sydney only). We have a small travel
trailer so we try to get out for camping trips a few times a year. I have continued my love for sports cars (currently have a 2007 Porsche Cayman)
and still have two Harley-Davidsons in the garage.
Kathe retired this year after 18 years with the San Diego County Health Department. She directed the Immunization Program and 65 fellow workers in her last job there.
I think a final retirement is on the horizon for me now.