John Totten
I
joined MCB 11 in early January 1966 as the Operations Officer and went to DaNang
with the battalion. In late May I relieved Bill Middleton as XO and continued
with 11 through the DongHa deployment. I left 11 in January 1968. My naval
career started with OCS in Newport, RI in 1956, from OCS I went to Salvage and
Diving School in Bayonne, NJ, became a hardhat diver and in May 1957 reported to
the USS Lipan, ATF 85, home-ported in Pearl Harbor. In September 1959 I
transferred to the regular Navy and attended CECOS in Port Hueneme. Upon
graduation from CECOS I was assigned to the Public Works Department at Point
Mugu as transportation officer and Seabee Division officer. In 1961 I was
assigned to NOP York, PA as Public Works Officer. In May 0f 1963 I went to
COMFAIRMED, in Naples, Italy. From there to the battalion; after my tour in 11 I
was assigned to Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Washington DC. In May
of 1971 I returned to California and was a student at NPGS Monterey where
I received at MS in Computer Systems. In June of 1971 I returned to Port Hueneme
to the Seabee Systems Engineering Office which was later renamed the Civil
Engineer Support Office. I left there in October 1975 and returned to teach at
NPGS Monterey for a year before becoming PWO. I retired with over 21 years of
active duty in October 1977. I went to work at Hartnell Community College , in
Salinas, CA, as their Maintenance Manager, and after two years became the Dean
of Occupational Education and four years later the Vice President for
Instruction. I retired from Hartnell in June 1993, worked as a compute
consultant for a year, then lived in Florence, Italy for three years. In 1997 I
again worked as an educational management and facility construction management
consultant and finally retired completely in February 2003. My wife Pat, of 43
years, died in October 2002 and in February of 2003 I met the love of my life,
Pat and I were married in September 2003. We have two sons, three grand
children, two dogs and a cat and are living in Pacific Grove, CA. My naval
career included over 9 years in Port Hueneme all of which were connected with
the SeaBees.