Bill Farnsworth - A Career in the Navy

                                             William Farnsworth – U.S. Navy, 1965-1985.

Bill graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD in 1965.  He served in various positions on two different destroyers, a replenishment ship, and the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga.  Bill was Commanding Officer of the USS Valor (MSO-472), a 177 foot wooden minesweeper, in Charleston, South Carolina, one of his most unique and special posts.   While stationed on ships, he made three separate,  6-8 month deployments to Vietnam.   Bill traveled to the Mediterranean, the northern Pacific Ocean, and Northern Europe.  He served a one year unaccompanied tour in Vietnam, 1969-70. Shore assignments included serving as Chief of Naval Technical Training in Memphis, TN, Commander Task Force 63 in the Mediterranean, teaching navigation to midshipmen and working with incoming plebes and then serving as Company Officer in charge of 1/36^th of the Brigade of Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD, followed by duties at the Naval Station in Mayport, FL.  Other assignments were based in Newport, RI, San Diego, CA, Monterey, CA, Pearl Harbor, HI, and Naples, Italy.  Awards include 3 Navy Commendation Medals with Combat “V”, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Unit Commendation Medal, Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation, Vietnam Service Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.  Lieutenant Commander Bill Farnsworth retired from service in the U.S. Navy in 1985.

In 1986 Bill began a second career as Director of Safety and Security with St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Florida.  He was active in the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety, serving on the Board of Directors for ten years and was twice elected President.  He assisted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in teaching hospitals how to protect newborn and infants from being abducted.

In 2008, Bill retired from St. Vincent’s and says that now he plays golf as much as he can, enjoys his grandchildren, and stays very active in the Cursillo movement of the Catholic Church. In looking back over his “two jobs” and 47 year marriage to Pat Broker (the couple moved 19 times in 20 years), Bill acknowledges that living in Hawaii and Naples, Italy were especially enjoyable as the couple were able to pursue their mutual interests in SCUBA diving and travel, but that both Pat and Bill regard their shore days at the U.S. Naval Academy as “the best.”

Editor’s Note: “Getting in” to a service academy requires personal grit and determination in addition to rigorous academic and physical preparation.  Bill is quick to credit his parents for their support in helping him to achieve his goals.