Contributors

James Treadway

Many shipmates, family members, friends, and others provided the encouragement, advice, and material required to write this book. I met most shipmates more than 45 years ago as we prepared to commission Biddle then sail her around the world. Others I met more recently over the Internet while conducting research and soliciting material. All deserve credit for contributing their stories, their skills as proofreaders, and for providing support and advice.

Those who made literary contributions deserve special recognition – I would not have attempted to write this book without their first hand accounts. Like smoke on brisket, their accounts surround the meat and give it full flavor. All gave Biddle their full effort more than a generation ago and some more recently; now they have taken the time and effort to tell their stories in their own words.

Dr. Timothy L. Francis, Historian at the Naval Warfare Division, Naval Historical Center, and Barry L. Zerbey at the National Archives and Records Administration provided research support, for which I am thankful.

Two men who made enormous contributions to well beyond their first hand accounts and who would be happy to not receive any recognition at all, are two Biddle plankowners and friends, Captain Maylon T. Scott and Data System Chief David R. Johnson.

Captain Scott’s contagious “Can do” attitude provided the initial spark to start this book. Next, he contributed much of his personal Biddle library, which includes irreplaceable photos, official messages, Biddlegrams, press releases, letters, and personal notes. Finally, Captain Scott’s quiet, behind the scenes support, encouragement and advice kept me going when I questioned my ability to complete the project.

David R. Johnson, who was my boss aboard Biddle and has been my friend for almost 48 years, is a remarkable man. His mastery of the technical details, specifications, and requirements of complex, integrated combat systems such the Naval Tactical Data System found on Biddle, is phenomenal. When confronted with an important task, he always gives 110 percent. As an example, I asked him for a paragraph or two that would describe how our group of data systems technicians aboard Biddle contributed to the ongoing success of the Naval Tactical Data System. He responded with a complete chapter, “When Computers Went to Sea”, one of the centerpieces of this book. Bravo Zulu, Chief Johnson and Captain Scott!

 

The Authors

The authors, a civilian and two retired senior naval officers, blend divergent yet complimentary viewpoints to tell the story of the USS Biddle. Our common interest was to chronicle the remarkable achievements of a single ship and the class of ships she represented. While my contribution to the Navy was only a six year enlistment, my esteemed co-authors were senior career Navy officers whose contributions were significant and long lasting. Both were in unique positions to recognize Biddle’s distinctive role in the Navy as a “Cold War Cruiser” and write about her place in naval history. Rear Admiral Marfiak, who served in destroyers, cruisers, and aboard Kitty Hawk, admitted, “Long gray hulls were my life and love. USS Biddle was special amongst them. Aboard her, in the midst of the Cold War, I became a leader of men.” Captain David L. Boslaugh, a Navy engineering duty officer for most of his 30-year career, worked behind the scenes on the design, installation, and maintenance of complex electronic systems that were, and still are, the heart of security, communications, and weapons systems that protect our great fleets. The commitment to excellence of these two gentlemen, their encouragement, their skill as authors, their knowledge of naval matters, and their devotion toward the effort to complete this book, explain why the United States Navy is the finest organization in the world and why we enjoy freedom in this country. I salute these two fine officers and extend a sincere, “Thank you and well done!”

 

James A. Treadway

Though not a career Navy man, I served proudly for six years – four of those years as a data systems technician aboard Biddle when she was a newly commissioned ship. I first saw her raw and unfinished, helped to commission her, then sailed her for tens of thousands of miles across the world’s oceans. I lived in an enlisted man’s world between reveille and taps – long hours on duty, doing my job, mail call, inspections, standing watches, training, chow on the mess decks, and liberty call in exotic places. The most important results of the experience were that I gained a life-long respect for both the people I worked with and for people in foreign lands, and that my technical training and four years practical experience aboard Biddle launched my civilian career while providing much needed maturity, purpose, and direction.

The training and experience prepared me for positions in the high tech industry with companies such as Digital Equipment Corporation, Texas Instruments and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Eventually I earned a Bachelor of Liberal Studies (summa cum laude) in Computer Science from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. While employed at AMD I was fortunate to work with the team of engineers that designed the K5, K6, and Athlon superscalar microprocessors. I am listed as inventor on three U.S. patents as a result of my work at AMD. I was an instructor at Texas State Technical College in Marshall, Texas, where I attempted to impart as much knowledge as I could about programming languages to my students before I forgot it. Subsequent to TSTC, I drove a semi puliing a tanker full of HAZMAT over the lower 48 states and Canada.  Currently I am semi-retired.

Rear Admiral Thomas F. Marfiak U.S. Navy (Retired)

Rear Admiral Thomas F. Marfiak graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1966. Selected for Flag rank in January 1992, he served in positions of increasing responsibility in the Navy and in the Joint arena until his retirement in July 1999.

His final assignment at sea was in command of the USS Kitty Hawk Aircraft Carrier Battle Group, consisting of nine ships, more than ninety aircraft, and seven thousand sailors. During that tour he was personally responsible for the training of the battle group for subsequent combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. As senior battle group commander, he was also instrumental in the formation of other carrier groups as they headed for operational duties in the Pacific and Gulf regions. Previously, Rear Admiral Marfiak commanded the USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) during Operation Desert Shield/ Desert Storm, leading four carriers and allied air forces during the first conflict with Iraq. Rear Admiral Marfiak commanded the USS Doyle (FFG-39) through several deployments to the Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Caribbean. His early operational assignments included serving as Executive Officer of USS Conyngham (DDG-17), Engineering Officer/TAO on USS Biddle (CG-34) and extensive service in Vietnam aboard USS Camp (DER-251) and in the Mediterranean aboard USS Brumby (DE-1044).

Ashore, Rear Admiral Marfiak was selected as an Olmsted Scholar and educated at the Institute of Political Studies, Paris, France before continuing his studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. Several tours in the Pentagon included duty as an Action Officer in the Office of Strategic Studies (OP-603), as the Special Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense and as the Deputy Director and then Acting Director of the CNO’s Long Range Planning Group (Op-OOK). Following his selection for Flag rank, he became the Director of Surface Navy Plans and Programs. After his battle group command, he served as Director of Plans and Policy for U.S. Central Command, Tampa, Florida, with principal responsibility for the development of plans and programs to implement US policy in southwest and central Asia. In his final active duty assignment, he served as the Commandant of the National War College at NDU, Ft. McNair, Washington, DC.

Upon leaving active service, Rear Admiral Marfiak became the Chief Executive Officer/Publisher of our nation’s foremost military and scholarly organization, the U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, MD. Now an independent consultant specializing in national security issues, acquisition, and the planning, programming and budget process, Rear Admiral Marfiak serves as an advisor to defense companies involved with our most significant development efforts.

A nationally recognized spokesman, Rear Admiral Marfiak is an articulate, dynamic and far-seeing member of the national security team. Recognized for his leadership and insight, he is sought after as a leader of critical efforts affecting us all.

Captain David L. Boslaugh, U.S. Navy (Retired)

Except for destroyer duty and a tour in a naval shipyard, Dave Boslaugh spent most of his 30-year Navy career in research and development and project management assignments as a naval engineering duty officer. These included duty as a flight test engineer where he worked with sister ships of the X-1 research airplane and on the X-15 research plane. Other assignments included five years in the Naval Tactical Data System Project Office, command of the Naval Security Engineering Facility in charge of Navy cryptographic and cryptologic equipment engineering, director of telecommunications R&D in the Naval Electronic Systems Command, assistant project manager of the Navy Command, Control, and Communications Project Office, and director of the Navy Embedded Computer Program Office. He also authored the book, When Computers Went to Sea – The Digitization of the United States Navy.

Contributors

Captain Albert Henry, U.S. Navy (Retired), was Biddle’s seventh commanding officer from August 1976 to August 1978. He is a Georgia native and a 1956 graduate of the US Naval Academy. During his Navy career, Al also commanded USS Seneca (ATF-91), USS Ouellet (DE-077), and River Assault Squadron 15 in Vietnam. Military decorations include the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star Medal, 2 awards each. After retiring from the Navy in 1978, Al returned to Georgia where he taught high school math and was a guidance counselor for 18 years. As a teacher, he was listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. Al currently enjoys volunteer tutoring at two schools, is a Lay Speaker in The United Methodist Church, and is active with the Interfaith Assistance Ministry in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Captain Fred Howe, U.S. Navy (Retired), Biddle’s Commissioning Weapons Officer, retired from active service in 1981 after service in several different types of surface ships including minesweepers, cruisers and five different destroyers, culminating in command of Coontz (DLG-9). He was subsequently employed by several private firms and spent 15 years working in support of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces Attaché in Washington D.C. prior to retirement to Fredericksburg, Virginia in 2001.

Biddle plankowner David R. Johnson served as an Electronics Technician on a minesweeper and auxiliary tanker on the way to Biddle via a plankowner tour at the Combat System Maintenance Training Center, Mare Island. After staff duty at the Naval Tactical Data Systems NTDS school that included conversion to DS, he was promoted to DSC and invited by Lieutenant Bob Gerity to be his System chief on new-construction Biddle at Bath. Following the Biddle tour, Johnson left the Navy and worked for Navy contractors in various projects as a computer programmer, system engineer, and precommissioning crew trainer. Retired from a small combat system engineering company of which he was one of seven founding owners, Dave now lives in Virginia Beach.

Plankowner DSC Rodney J. Merrill, U.S. Navy (Retired) may be the only person who served aboard Biddle three separate times. Rodney retired from the Navy as a Data Systems Chief in 1985. During his last seven years in the navy he worked at MOTU-7 (Japan) and MOTU-13 (Philippines). Currently he is working for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) integrating and testing the Joint Tactical Terminal (JTT) onboard US Naval ships.

Lieutenant Commander Ralph B. Muse, U.S. Navy (Retired) was Biddle’s CIC Officer during the MiG attack on July 19, 1972. Muse joined the Navy Reserves while in high school, reaching the rate of Second Class Sonarman before graduating from Christian Brothers University in Memphis, TN in 1968. Commissioned in 1969, he was Project Officer for the NMCSSC supporting the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon. In 1970 he was given orders to the USS Biddle (DLG-34) as NTDS Officer. In 1972 Lieutenant Muse was augmented to regular Navy and given the additional duties as CIC Officer. Lieutenant Muse left the Biddle and the Navy in 1973. He is a senior level executive with extensive technology management experience, expertise in general management, manufacturing, and multinational sales / marketing, and operations. He has an extensive background in wireless data, networking, systems, electronics, energy, and consulting, with industry leaders. Mr. Muse founded Muse Consulting in 1993 to provide interim management, turnaround management, and consulting services to high tech and manufacturing companies throughout North America. Muse holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Christian Brothers University, and a MS in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas.

Captain Alfred R. Olsen U.S. Navy (Retired), Biddle’s second commanding officer, is a native of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1944. He is a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the postgraduate course of the U. S. Naval Intelligence School, and holds an MSBA degree from George Washington University.

A true Cruiser-Destroyerman, Captain Olsen served in the cruisers Biloxi and Providence and the destroyer Allen M. Sumner. He commanded the LST Ouachita County, destroyer escort Lester, destroyer John Paul Jones and destroyer tender Sierra. Biddle was his fifth command at sea. Other assignments include duty on the staffs of the Commander in Chief Atlantic Fleet and Commander Destroyer Force Atlantic Fleet, in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and as Chief of Staff to Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla FOUR.

Following the Biddle, Captain Olsen served four years in the office of the Deputy CNO for Surface Warfare in the Pentagon. Retiring from the Navy in 1974, he worked for the Raytheon Company for 12 years in support of NTDS project office in the Naval Sea Systems Command. In 1985 Captain Olsen helped to found the Surface Navy Association and served as national treasurer for seven years. In 1997 he was elected to a two year tour as president of the Washington Chapter of the Circumnavigators Club. Captain Olsen continues to be active in a variety of Navy and volunteer organizations.

Captain Hollis E. Robertson U.S. Navy (Retired), Biddle’s ninth commanding officer, enlisted in the Navy in 1951, entered the United States Naval Academy in 1952 from which he graduated in June 1956. Captain Robertson also graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. As a ship’s engineering sub-specialist, he co-authored the Naval Engineer’s Guide published by the U.S. Naval Institute. At sea he served in Francis M. Robinson (DE-220), Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42), Catamount (LSD-17), Columbus (CG-12), Wainwright (CG-28) and commanded Charles S. Sperry (DD-697), Rich (DD-820) and Biddle (CG-34).

After completing his tour as the Biddle’s CIC Officer in December 1981, Mike Sasser left the Navy to return to civilian life. He took his Purdue engineering degree and security clearance and found an engineering position with ITT Aerospace/ Communications Division in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is now an experienced digital electronics design engineer working on various communications and satellite programs for military and commercial use. Mr. Sasser’s oldest son is in the Air Force flying air crew on AWACS.

Captain Maylon T. Scott, US Navy (Retired) is a June 1943 graduate of the US Naval Academy, class of 1944. He began his long destroyer career aboard USS Hull (DD-350) in the raid of Wake Island in October 1943, the invasion of the Marianas in June-August 1944, and operations off the Philippines in December 1944.

In January 1945, Captain Scott, then a Lieutenant (j.g.) was assigned to the USS Orleck (DD-886) as Gunnery Officer from her commissioning until December 1946. After shakedown training, Orleck headed for China and Japan early in 1946 for duties in connection with post-war occupation operations. After the war, as a lieutenant, Captain Scott was Executive Officer of USS Begor (APD-127), Damage Control Officer and First Lieutenant of USS Curtis (AV-4) carrying atomic bombs to Eniwetok 1948, Executive Officer of USS Marsh (DE-699) and an instructor of Marine Engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy.

A two year overseas tour followed as Aide and Flag Secretary to Chief of Naval Group, Joint American Mission for the Aid of Turkey. On 5 February 1955, as Lieutenant Commander, he took command of USS Otterstetter (DER-244).

In November 1956, he joined the staff of Commander Destroyer Force US Atlantic Fleet, as Assistant Readiness and Training Officer. As a Commander, from July 1959 through 1961, he was Commanding Officer of the destroyer leader USS Mitscher (DL-2) which made its first deployment with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. Subsequently, he served in Washington, D.C. in the Plans and Policy Division of the Chief of Naval Personnel until July 1963.

In June 1964, Captain Scott graduated from the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. and from George Washington University with a Master’s Degree in International Relations. From July 1964 until August 1965, he was Commander Destroyer Division TWENTY-TWO and conducted extensive operations in the Mediterranean and Western Atlantic.

In August 1965, he was assigned Chief of Staff, Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla TWO and Commander Task Group CHARLIE, whose primary responsibility was the development and advancement of Anti-Submarine Warfare.

He was the Commissioning Commanding Officer of USS Biddle (DLG-34) on 21 January 1967. In 1968 Biddle received the Secretary of the Navy’s Meritorious Unit Commendation for combat operations in South-East Asia and then completed a Round the World Cruise. For these combat operations, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with combat “V.”

As Director of Enlisted Personnel U.S. Navy, Bureau of Naval Personnel, from October 1968 to July 1971, he was awarded the Legion of Merit. He was Chief Naval Group MAAG, Norway from August 1971 until September 1972 when he was assigned as Special Advisor to Commander Cruiser Destroyer Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

He retired 1 February 1973 in Newport, Rhode Island. He was Development Director for a successful environmental organization, “Save The Bay” (Narragansett). In 1974, he was Director then Chief Executive Officer of “Seaport ’76 Foundation Ltd.” building the reproduction of the first authorized ship of the Continental Navy sloop “Providence,” John Paul Jones’ first command, now sailing up and down the coasts and into the Great Lakes.

Married in 1946 to Betty Wilson Chambliss, daughter of Colonel and Mrs. Turner M. Chambliss, they have a son, two daughters, and six grandchildren.