Editor’s Note: On the 5th of August, a remarkable naval officer and his lovely wife transitioned to civilian life after 33 years of dedicated service to the nation. The ceremony was held at the splendid Army-Navy Country Club’s Five Star Ballroom, overlooking the proud spire of the Washington Monument. As attendee Joe Mazafro noted, it might have been the most active and retired Flag and General Officers assembled in years. No less than four of the last five Joint Staff J2’s were In attendance to honor RADM Paul Becker and his wife Kim as they enter the next phase of his life, with Teamwork, Tone and Tenacity, the Gold Standards of his exemplary career. Hosted by ADM Mike Rogers, with remarks by LTG Mike Flynn and with RDML Bruce Loveless acting as Master of Ceremonies, more than a hundred friends, family and shipmates looked on as Paul summed up his remarkable career this way:

“Verklempt … is the word that describes where I am at the moment … that’s Yiddish for “choked with emotion.” And I am. I’m not sure how many retirement speeches from the US Navy begin with an emphasis on the word … verklempt. My friends said the kindest things about me and Kim, and that’s humbling. But that’s not why I’m verklempt. When I look at this audience with every sector of my life represented, there are too many missing, too many I wished could be here that aren’t … and that’s why I’m verklempt. When I started this journey – what allowed me to start this journey – were parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles , role models all, more than a dozen of them, every one of them now just blessed memories, and with them I include Kim’s wonderful Dad Buddy, her Grandma Cleo and Aunts and Uncles . They made all the difference of showing me what was virtuous, what was patriotic and what was right. I’m verklempt because I miss them, I think of them, I thank them.

But what a cross section is here. Honestly, I sent many of you invitations as a courtesy to let you know I was leaving the service … I wasn’t expecting you all to come! … and that’s why we have the good problem of being a bit crowded … but your deciding to brave a Washington DC trip in torrid August is a powerful demonstration of our mutual affection … and that makes me verlkempt.

In the audience are Brothers and cousins from around the country, a grade school teacher, middle school buddies, high school friends, college classmates, roommates, running mates, liberty mates, our wedding’s best man, leaders from the world of finance, industry and government, academics, Law and Order and particularly New York’s finest the NYPD, religious leaders, Navy friends from my very first fleet assignment, the Mediterranean, the Pacific and the Persian Gulf. Some have flown in from Japan, Hawaii, Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands and Israel. It’s great to see neighbors from Tampa and Coronado. There are battle buddies and wingmen from southwest Asia and cohorts from the most dangerous duty location of them all … Washington, DC. Special thanks are reserved for several doctors and medical professionals here from Bethesda. It’s often hyperbole when someone says “you saved my life” but in this case it’s true. 2015 was a sporty medical adventure … There were occasions when the outcome of some surgeries and procedures were absolutely unknown – situations much more dire than anyone besides Kim knew – and your skills pulled me through. Getting to this point thanks to your care … that makes me verklempt.

The most important person here today is my wife Kim. She’s already adorned with a lei as a token of my love and appreciation … the journey wasn’t always a path of beautiful flowers like that lei … but it was her patriotism and devotion helped us get to this point. She turned my initial smile from February 1986 into decades of love, and turned our 9 houses into 9 homes for nearly 30 years (and it ain’t easy enduring 13 HHG moves). No way I’d be this successful without her. Thank you doesn’t do it justice. But she’s also had some help multiplying the love over the past 12 years … and that’s why Hula is proudly on the cover of the program. Hula is just a few courses shy of passing the service dog exam, but otherwise would have loved to join this crowd.

We’re not seafaring peoples, us Beckers … other than my grandparents and their clan who were chased from their Eastern European Shtetls at the turn of the 20th century and crossed the Atlantic for New York and were processed in through Ellis Island. The first body of water I ever saw was Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx. Hardly a sign of what was to be. But I lived on Bainbridge Avenue, named for the dashing Naval Hero from the War of 1812 and other Barbary Pirate actions … maybe that was a clue. The first time I knew I was joining the Navy was in the fall of 1978, when my Dad sat me down in his office, which was the kitchen table, and explained to me that with my older brother Michael already in Princeton, he had not accurately calculated college tuitions, and with two brothers left to go behind me, he asked, “Which service academy will you apply to?” I hadn’t thought about much up to that point. My heroes at that time weren’t military men. My heroes were sports and entertainment stars like Tom Seaver, Walt Frazier, Fran Tarkenton, Bryan Trottier, Thurman Munson, the Marx Brothers, The Bowery Boys, Mel Brooks, Jack Benny, George Burns, Henny Youngman, Rodney Dangerfield, Abbot & Costello, and the Big Three: Moe, Larry and Curly. I did admire Earnest Borgnine’s character LT Quinton McHale, and the impression I got from World War II movies is that the Navy seemed to a better lifestyle and better duty stations than the Army or Marines. So the Naval Academy it was, and I was secure in believing as a sailor I would NEVER EVER have to serve in in deserts, mountains or land- locked countries.

So in the summer of ’79 I entered the service with the greatest gift of all. A family who loved each other – even if in our own weird Adams Family sort of way – it was a great lesson in TEAMWORK. Dad in particular, who as a NYC Cop for 30 years took more hostile fire than I ever did, and would not be labeled politically correct by modern standards, who would regal me and my brothers with stories of how when the law was broken and the public was being threatened, he had to use his nightstick on violent criminals (what he called the ‘wood shampoo’ ) … which had a great deterrent effect on our behavior (it was my first lesson in maintaining good TONE) Dad made it very tangible for me to see and admire all cops who served the public, those who saved the public, and those who were willing to sacrifice for the public. Some of his NY’s finest partners are here today. In their typical self-effacing style, when I thanked them profusely, they exclaimed, “Hey, Fugghedaboutit.” My Dad passed last year, my Mom, who had no equal in loving kindness and piety passed 14 years ago. My three brothers Mike, Adam and Ken are here, as is my Step Mom Vita, who was married to Dad for 10 years and is very much a part of our family. And that makes me all verklempt.

There’s no need to recap my career here. The Admiral and General covered it nicely. But I am often asked what stood out for me along the way. It was, in one word, people.

Over three decades I’ve worked with some of the finest men in arms that this country ever produced, some of who you know as national treasures because of their hardships, heartbreak and heroism, others more anonymous, some here in this room, some deployed, some now in eternal rest. Officer, Enlisted, active, reserve and civilians I hold their friendship – in some cases now their memories – with abiding esteem, their service and selfless sacrifice impossible to describe in so short a time … And that makes me verklempt. My relationship with them can best be summarized by General Sherman talking about his friend General Grant 150 years ago when they were at war: “He stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk … And now we stand by each other.” I’ll let you decide if the crazy or drunk label was the one that applied to me, but in either case, knowing I stood shoulder with this nation’s finest … that makes me verlkempt.

For those of you still serving the public, I’m glad to have gotten you out of the office early on a Friday! That’s the kind of team player I am. You know I’m all about teamwork, but the very structure of the US Govt doesn’t encourage REAL teamwork. But the right people DO encourage real teamwork and I’ve been lucky to work with the right people and be part of some of the most historic national security teams and episodes of modern history, some very public, others still very classified. And while making this history I always took my job seriously, but I never took myself seriously. I was always passionate about my work which has been a key to success, but also used my passion to help others … which has been the key to my happiness.

Along the way I tried to be a TENACIOUS truth teller (regardless of personalities, policies and politics), whether in the face of challenges associated with asymmetric warfare against radical Islamic extremists in the Middle East, aggressive Chinese expansionism in the Pacific or absurd political correctness at home. I published and spoke at public forums using straight-forward words and narratives which at a minimum prompted lots of feedback and occasionally invoked censure. My greatest successes only occurred because I applied lessons from my greatest failures, and the greatest risks I took were not in war planning or war fighting, but rather in standing up for what I thought was right. If I could replay three decades gain I’d probably do small some things differently, but not many, and certainly wouldn’t change the large things. And I’d now recommend to any who will listen with an open mind about what to do with their futures … are you listening nieces and nephews! … Consider service to our public – in or out of uniform – with honor and integrity, like your Grandpa Bob did, like I’ve tried to do. Founding father John Adams once wrote his son, “Public business must always be done by somebody. If wise men decline it others will not. If honest me refuse it, others will not”. So in looking back on the the honor of serving the public and wearing the cloth of our country for the past 33 years … that makes me verklempt.

So what’s next? Us retiring Admirals and Generals are notoriously vague about such things because we’re in that “tweener” land, still in uniform and serving the government and considering future offers in the business sector.

How about the ideal workplace? Well, I’ve certainly traveled the world. 44 countries so far, and as you can imagine, I have my favorites … but there’s one place that’s our favorite, and when I saw this sign every time upon arrival at this particular airport … I always got verklempt.

How about the working hours? Well, when the sun rises in the future I look forward to the option of not rising with it. In fact, for most of my professional life, I rose way before the sun. This picture highlights those hours (spot 23 in Mall parking … 4/5 past 5 JCS J2’s are here and know it well), it exemplifies the hours required of a good intelligence officer seeking to learn what our enemies don’t want us to know … the good intel officers are usually first in or last out, the best intel officers are usually both.

But to me, the ideal workplace is less a place and a timeframe – than an environment and an attitude. My rainbow workplace is being connected with others that have a common purpose, share a level of trust, and have authority to make things happen. I’ve been blessed to be part of such organizations in the past, afloat and ashore, in peace, crisis and combat, where information flowed and the only cost of admission and the standard of excellence was Teamwork, Tone, Tenacity … and the results were measured in accomplishing the things that must be done, for our comrades in arms, for our fellow citizens and for the country who’s uniform we wear … and that that type of public service makes me verklempt.

So I’ll close here with the picture that started this event off … the cover of your program … with Kim and Hula: who I love, in front of the flag I love … and THAT family and friends, really makes me verklempt.”

The audience erupted in applause at the conclusion of one of the best retirement ceremonies ever.

Copyright 2016 RADM Paul Becker, USN-Ret. and Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com