Feature Story

The sun gleamed brightly on a perfect Hawaii day. Capt. John T. Laufer stood at the podium at Diamond Head Light house with friends and family eagerly waiting what he had to say.

Laufer, a lean, towering gentleman, is in a perfectly pressed white uniform with the dozens of medals and ribbons glowing in the sunlight. This was his time. He was in the spotlight. It was his day to retire.

In his early days, Laufer knew he wanted to do something different. What he didn’t know was it would expand more than 38 years.

He was previously attending the University of Pittsburgh for a business degree when he felt it was time for a change. Laufer could remember dates and other details as if they happened yesterday.

“I remember going into the Navy recruiting office in 1971,” he recalled while standing tranquilly at the podium. “I was looking for something exciting to do, like the Navy Seals or something like that.”

While pondering his options, he stumbled upon a Coast Guard recruiting office just down the road from the Navy office and decided to take a peek at what this unknown service had to offer.

“I asked the recruiter if they could give me any assured positions or locations,” said Laufer. “He frankly said ‘no’, and I liked his honesty!”

Laufer took the plunge and enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in 1971 for a four-year active duty term.

After going to boot camp to learn the basics, he attended Radarman “A” School on Governors Island, N.Y., from February to July 1971.

“I remember learning things like how to write backwards with a grease pencil on a Plexiglas wall, a skill technology has made obsolete,” Laufer said with a laugh.

He arrived at his first unit, the Coast Guard Cutter Midgett, homeported in Alameda, Calif. Laufer, dressed in his World War II era “Donald Duck” uniform, stood on the pier looking at the 378-foot high endurance cutter not knowing what was in store.

“I served aboard Midgett for two years, and it was an honor to be the first crew placing Midgett into her long service,” said Laufer.

He became used to the shipboard life and served two years as the cutter’s combat information center supervisor where he was in charge of the “nerve system” of the ship. There he controlled the radar systems and became the ship’s “invisible eyes.” 

Laufer ventured on many patrols around central California, where the crew conducted fast-paced search and rescue missions. In the frigid waters of Alaska, where they enforced fishing regulations, both age-old missions of the Coast Guard.

Four years came and went and his enlisted tour was complete. He decided to attend college again and finish his degree at California State University, Sacramento. Laufer decided to stay in the active reserves and continue his service because he wasn’t finished with the Coast Guard just yet.

“I was a poor college student and-quite frankly-at first, I just needed the money, but then I started liking it,” joked Laufer.

He drilled on various cutters near Alameda including the Rush, Jarvis, Blackhaw and he even revisited his roots on the Midgett, all while attending college.

Laufer finished his degree in 1978 and was hired by Matson Shipping Company for a finance and administrative position. He became married, had two kids and started a daily routine like most blue-collar businessmen. But his sense of adventure still existed. He craved being on the sea and doing something different. He had to get out of the daily grind, and he did it with the required 48-drills per year.

As an enlisted man, Laufer began climbing the ladder of advancement. He looked into several programs to become a commissioned officer after advancing to senior chief petty officer.

“I was just as smart as a J.O. (junior officer), so I decided to go into the Selective Reserve Direct Commission program and become an officer. I had my degree and the experience.”

Ascending to a senior enlisted leader only to go to the very bottom of the commissioned officer chain wasn’t a hard transition. Laufer had more experience being a reservist than most active duty counterparts at his paygrade.

Laufer began his commissioned career and served as the executive officer of the Reserve unit at Coast Guard Station Fort Point, Calif. He was also part of the final crew under Station Fort Point.

“When we closed down that station and commissioned Coast Guard Station Golden Gate in Sausalito, Calif., our Reserve unit had trained crews augmenting the station boats a couple weekends a month, and for 1990 we were selected as the Reserve Officers Association Coast Guard Reserve Unit of the Year,” said Laufer proudly.

Laufer told stories, but one in particular made his face light up as he was telling his story to the crowd.

“My best billet was as section leader of the WPB (patrol boat) augmentation section at Coast Guard Reserve Unit Yerba Buena Island from 1992 to 1995. As section leader, I assembled a crew of reservists that fully augmented the 82-foot Coast Guard Cutter Point Brower. I was qualified as underway OOD (Officer of the Day) and also served as acting commanding officer on the weekends. There's nothing like having your own command,” said Laufer.

Laufer is one-of two Reserve officers who ever took full command of a commissioned cutter with Reserve crews.

Expanding on both his personal and professional careers, he transferred in 1996 to the Hawaii division of Matson and worked at the Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) in Honolulu.

“The six years I served as a command duty officer in the District 14 JRCC were good fun.  Something is always happening in the north central Pacific Ocean and the JRCC gets all the calls,” said Laufer. “My most memorable case was the Australian pilot Raymond Clamback, who along with a copilot, ditched his small plane a few hundred miles northeast of Hilo (Hawaii).  That was an ‘all-nighter’ for me that ended in success when we directed an AMVER (Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System) vessel to the scene to pick up the men.”

Along the way Laufer met and became friends with many people. Active duty members came and went, but Laufer stayed in the Pacific region. Many members remember Laufer for his compelling leadership.

"Capt. Laufer is the epitome of cool, calm and collected professionalism,” said Cmdr. Mark M. Murakami, who worked with Laufer. “Whether dealing with an intense search and rescue case in the JRCC or a thorny Reserve policy issue, he never lost his balance or his focus on doing the right thing."

Being the leader he is, Laufer was selected to become the officer-in-charge of Port Security Unit Detachment Guantanamo Bay (PSUGTMO) in 2004.

“I worked directly for an active duty Army brigadier general as part of the Joint Task Force GTMO,” said Laufer.  “It was very rewarding bringing a new unit together, deploying with them, and doing a great job in a faraway place.”

Returning to Hawaii with the rank of captain, Laufer became the senior reservist in the 14^th District. There he looked out for his fellow reservists by becoming their voice and became the liaison between the 14^th District and U.S. Pacific Command. It would be his last tour in the Coast Guard.

“Through his achievements, he not only pushed himself into becoming a captain and the senior Reserve officer for D14, but I saw him encourage others to watch over their shipmates, to advance themselves, and to take on more responsibilities,” said Master Chief Petty Officer Guy Pasco, the senior Reserve command master chief of the 14^th District.  “He is living proof that determination, hard work and basic friendliness are compatible ingredients for success in the Coast Guard."

Laufer stood facing the crowd of more than 150 people. His wife, Sue, and their son and daughter smiled at him from the front row. Laufer looked over his long list of notes to remember all he has done. After 38 years of dedicated active duty and Reserve service, Laufer was going to retire.

He was on active duty. He was a reservist. He climbed the enlisted ranks. He climbed the commissioned ranks. He received orders as a junior. He gave orders as a senior. There wasn’t much that he hadn’t done.

“I never thought I’d be a captain as an E-1,” said Laufer. “It shaped my life.”

But the time had come. This was a special moment. Laufer snapped to attention and rendered a hand salute to Rear Adm. Michael Seward, a long-time friend and the senior reservist in the Coast Guard.

“I have the watch,” stated Seward, relieving Laufer from his active Coast Guard post for the last time.

Laufer slowly dropped his last salute with a smirk cresting from the corner of his mouth. After 38 years of dedicated service, he still didn’t quit.

 

To view photographs from the past and Laufer's retirement ceremony, click the following links:

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=825922

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=825925

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=825919