Stephen Loftus
Vice Admiral U.S. Navy
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations
1957-1994
Vice Admiral U.S. Navy
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations
1957-1994
Stephen Loftus was born in Arlington, Massachusetts in 1935. He attended Matignon High School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Matignon was a Catholic School that was experimenting with co-ed classrooms. “It was good for me. I really thought they saved my life because I was a wise-ass in junior high school. I had no plans of going to that high school, but my parents did.” That is where Steve met his future wife, Martha Smith.
Steve graduated from University of Massachusetts in 1956 with a degree in Biology and was headed to Auburn for a master’s degree in veterinary science. “I had no intention of joining the military”. In what turned out to be a twist of fate, Steve was in Boston to meet a friend for lunch after graduation. It was a hot, humid New England day so Steve ducked into a recruiting station to take advantage of the air conditioning while he waited for his friend. “They gave me a couple of aptitude tests for aviation and by the time my friend arrived I had already joined.” When he got home that evening his mother asked what he had done with his day and Steve replied, “I joined the Navy”, which came as quite a surprise to her.
The next month Steve headed off to Newport for Officers Training School (OCS). This was 1957 and Steve’s first assignment was as a Naval Flight Officer with a carrier-based early warning squadron. Steve had received his flight training at Pensacola, FL and Corpus Christi, TX. Steve made 100+ carrier landings on the USS Forrestal flying the AD-5 Skyraider. This was a plane introduced in WW II and used in Korea. This was a single seat plane that had four canons and could carry a heavy payload of bombs.
“It was great. I loved it.” They didn’t often use the catapult but when they did, the aircraft would be traveling 130 mph+ at the end of the 600 foot deck runway which took two seconds. “That gave you a pretty good jolt.” I asked what it was like landing on a carrier in the dark. “There were some hairy nights with a pitching ship and nowhere to go if you didn’t get down.”
I asked Steve if he was ever worried? “Oh sure!! But the training that you had kept you focused until it was over. Then you worried.”
After his first tour of duty ended in December 1959, he left the Navy, married his high school sweetheart, and had two children. After a short career in sales with Proctor & Gamble, Steve felt he just wasn’t doing anything important enough. Steve told Martha that he thought the family would be better off back in the Navy. She agreed and Steve re-enlisted in 1961 and headed off to Brunswick, ME.
Steve was assigned to an anti-submarine warfare squadron. These patrol squadrons tracked Soviet submarines up and down the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Steve did five 6 month deployments to Keflivick, Iceland. His next assignment was with a Heavy Attack Squadron. The squadron had only four aircraft. These were top secret aircraft built by the Skunkworks at Lockheed. They were designed with the hull of a PV2v-7 outfitted with armor plating under the aircraft and state of the art sensors. These aircraft were disassembled and shipped to Vietnam, where they were re-assembled for his squadron.
It was 1967 and Steve’s squadron was a land based squadron operating in Vietnam flying low level night attack missions. These planes had 7 crew members and were heavily outfitted with weapons. The one drawback was that the plane only flew at 180 knots leaving it susceptible to enemy fire. The goal was to make one pass at the target, but Steve said most missions required two or more passes. On a typical mission they would patrol for boats and Sampans coming down the rivers near the Ho Chi Minh trail.
The Status of Forces Agreement in effect at the time meant Steve’s squadron could not be based out of Vietnam. Every Thursday they flew to the Philippines until headcount was taken back in Vietnam. On Friday they flew back to Vietnam. This was an 18 month tour and during this time Martha rented a house in the Philippines and moved the family there. Steve was able to see his family once a week on Thursday. “It was a hell of a way to go to war.” Steve left Vietnam in May of 1969 and Martha and family also returned to the US.
After Steve’s flying days came to an end, he attended the Naval Graduate School and earned a master’s degree in financial management. Steve assumed the role of the Director of Navy Budget which had a budget of $110MM at that time. Steve held several positions of increasing importance and responsibility during his Naval Career. He served several tours in Washington on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations and as the Naval aid to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Financial Management. 1981 Steve assumed the role of Commander of the Naval Air Station in Bermuda.
In 1984, Steve was promoted to Admiral. His first job was at the Naval Sea Systems Command which purchased all the Navy ships. During his tenure as “the money guy” there were $50 billion of ships under construction.
In 1986 Steve became a Vice Admiral and headed to Italy where he assumed the role of commander of Fleet Air, Mediterranean. In 1990 he took the role of Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Readiness and Logistics during the Gulf War. After 37 years of distinguished service Steve retired in 1994.
“If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably do it the exact same way.”
Steve was married for 59 years before his wife passed away. He has two daughters he sees frequently. “I give a lot of credit to my wife and kids to be able to handle everything while I was gone for six months at a time.”
Thank you, Steve, for 39 years of service and sacrifice for your country.
Steve graduated from University of Massachusetts in 1956 with a degree in Biology and was headed to Auburn for a master’s degree in veterinary science. “I had no intention of joining the military”. In what turned out to be a twist of fate, Steve was in Boston to meet a friend for lunch after graduation. It was a hot, humid New England day so Steve ducked into a recruiting station to take advantage of the air conditioning while he waited for his friend. “They gave me a couple of aptitude tests for aviation and by the time my friend arrived I had already joined.” When he got home that evening his mother asked what he had done with his day and Steve replied, “I joined the Navy”, which came as quite a surprise to her.
The next month Steve headed off to Newport for Officers Training School (OCS). This was 1957 and Steve’s first assignment was as a Naval Flight Officer with a carrier-based early warning squadron. Steve had received his flight training at Pensacola, FL and Corpus Christi, TX. Steve made 100+ carrier landings on the USS Forrestal flying the AD-5 Skyraider. This was a plane introduced in WW II and used in Korea. This was a single seat plane that had four canons and could carry a heavy payload of bombs.
“It was great. I loved it.” They didn’t often use the catapult but when they did, the aircraft would be traveling 130 mph+ at the end of the 600 foot deck runway which took two seconds. “That gave you a pretty good jolt.” I asked what it was like landing on a carrier in the dark. “There were some hairy nights with a pitching ship and nowhere to go if you didn’t get down.”
I asked Steve if he was ever worried? “Oh sure!! But the training that you had kept you focused until it was over. Then you worried.”
After his first tour of duty ended in December 1959, he left the Navy, married his high school sweetheart, and had two children. After a short career in sales with Proctor & Gamble, Steve felt he just wasn’t doing anything important enough. Steve told Martha that he thought the family would be better off back in the Navy. She agreed and Steve re-enlisted in 1961 and headed off to Brunswick, ME.
Steve was assigned to an anti-submarine warfare squadron. These patrol squadrons tracked Soviet submarines up and down the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Steve did five 6 month deployments to Keflivick, Iceland. His next assignment was with a Heavy Attack Squadron. The squadron had only four aircraft. These were top secret aircraft built by the Skunkworks at Lockheed. They were designed with the hull of a PV2v-7 outfitted with armor plating under the aircraft and state of the art sensors. These aircraft were disassembled and shipped to Vietnam, where they were re-assembled for his squadron.
It was 1967 and Steve’s squadron was a land based squadron operating in Vietnam flying low level night attack missions. These planes had 7 crew members and were heavily outfitted with weapons. The one drawback was that the plane only flew at 180 knots leaving it susceptible to enemy fire. The goal was to make one pass at the target, but Steve said most missions required two or more passes. On a typical mission they would patrol for boats and Sampans coming down the rivers near the Ho Chi Minh trail.
The Status of Forces Agreement in effect at the time meant Steve’s squadron could not be based out of Vietnam. Every Thursday they flew to the Philippines until headcount was taken back in Vietnam. On Friday they flew back to Vietnam. This was an 18 month tour and during this time Martha rented a house in the Philippines and moved the family there. Steve was able to see his family once a week on Thursday. “It was a hell of a way to go to war.” Steve left Vietnam in May of 1969 and Martha and family also returned to the US.
After Steve’s flying days came to an end, he attended the Naval Graduate School and earned a master’s degree in financial management. Steve assumed the role of the Director of Navy Budget which had a budget of $110MM at that time. Steve held several positions of increasing importance and responsibility during his Naval Career. He served several tours in Washington on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations and as the Naval aid to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Financial Management. 1981 Steve assumed the role of Commander of the Naval Air Station in Bermuda.
In 1984, Steve was promoted to Admiral. His first job was at the Naval Sea Systems Command which purchased all the Navy ships. During his tenure as “the money guy” there were $50 billion of ships under construction.
In 1986 Steve became a Vice Admiral and headed to Italy where he assumed the role of commander of Fleet Air, Mediterranean. In 1990 he took the role of Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Readiness and Logistics during the Gulf War. After 37 years of distinguished service Steve retired in 1994.
“If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably do it the exact same way.”
Steve was married for 59 years before his wife passed away. He has two daughters he sees frequently. “I give a lot of credit to my wife and kids to be able to handle everything while I was gone for six months at a time.”
Thank you, Steve, for 39 years of service and sacrifice for your country.