Lehighton native parlayed his reverence for his country into a highly decorated military career.

Neil Stubits, of Towamensing Township, is a submarine warfare qualified officer who has been awarded the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal (four awards), the Navy Commendation Medal (two awards), and Navy Achievement Medal (two awards).

A 1978 graduate of Lehighton Area High School, Stubits said his father served in World War II and landed on Iwo Jima with the 4th Marine Division, where he was wounded.

“As a result, I always had a deep respect for the military and those who served, but I didn’t initially seek it out as a career,” Stubits said.

Stubits went to Lehigh University and graduated in 1982 with a degree in chemical engineering. Unfortunately, he said 1982 was in the middle of an economic recession and many of his fellow graduates did not have a job in their field. “The Navy recruiter called and after a visit with him, he offered me an opportunity to serve as an assistant weapons officer on board a nuclear-powered submarine,” he said. “So, at first it was an employment opportunity to use some of what I had learned, but after 27 years it became so much more.”

Stubits entered officer candidate school in November of 1982 and was commissioned as a naval officer in March of 1983. He retired in February of 2010 as a Navy captain (equivalent to a colonel in the other services) with just over 27 years of service.

He started out in Charleston, South Carolina, as an assistant weapons officer on USS James K. Polk (SSBN 645) in charge of sonar systems and conventional and nuclear weapons. After his first tour, the Navy sent him to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, to obtain a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Submarine projects

After graduation, Stubits said his career focused primarily on submarine maintenance, modernization and new construction. This resulted in managing submarine projects at Charleston Naval Shipyard, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, waterfront submarine maintenance at New London Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut, new construction of the Seawolf Class at General Dynamics at Groton, maintenance officer on the Atlantic Fleet Submarine Force Staff in Norfolk, Virginia, and department head at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. He was selected to command the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indian Head (NSWC IHD) in Maryland. NSWC IHD is the Navy’s premier facility for ordnance, energetics and explosive ordnance disposal solutions.

“Over a 27-year career, there are so many memories and moments that stand out that it is hard to just pick out a few,” Stubits said. The memories that mean the most to me are the interactions with people, the people I worked for, the people that worked for me and my colleagues.

“At every command I was at I served as a mentor for junior officers qualifying watch standing positions and warfare qualifications. Many of the people I have helped along the way are still my friends and they remember those long mentoring sessions fondly, and I know they also paid it forward.”

Stubits said when he took command of NSWC IHD, a command that was essentially 1,300 Navy civilians, his boss, a one-star admiral, told him the command had issues, including a moral problem, and that he needed him to fix it.

“I took a hands-on approach to leadership, restored their identity, discipline and pride in their organization,” he said. As a result of the command’s efforts to improve, specifically their safety record (a priority for a command that deals with explosives and energetic materials) the National Safety Council recognized me as one of their top 10 ‘CEOs Who Get It’ in 2009, the first military officer recognized. I may have received the recognition, but it was a command wide effort.”

Memories

Stubits recounted another special memory.

“On a more personal note, another memory that stands out is standing watch as the officer of the deck on a submarine cruising on the surface on a moonlit night in the Caribbean,” he said. “Just you, your lookout watch stander and a cup of coffee. Only a few can say they have experienced that.”

Stubits reiterated he has always had a deep respect for our military, and has studied World War II and the Civil War extensively.

“That being said, until you actually wear the cloth of the nation, you don’t truly understand what it means to serve,” he said. “You begin to realize you are a part of something much larger than just yourself.

“The longer you serve, the more you understand that you are either at the tip of the spear, or you are supporting those who are, and you take pride in that.

“Our Republic has endured for 250 years. Your service is a part of that, and you feel a deep sense of pride knowing that you played a small part in preserving that Republic for ourselves and our posterity.”

Stubits said his career was primarily focused on submarines, nuclear power, nuclear weapons and explosives, and that thankfully, in those 27 years, he was never involved in any significant problems or mishaps.

“Why? Because from day one in that community it is all about discipline and adherence to processes and procedures,” he said. “Add that to my engineering degrees and you suddenly realize you are very process oriented.

“I have applied that type of discipline to my daily life — following the process and following the rules. Do I occasionally color outside the lines? Sure, but very few times, and I generally have a good understanding of the risks. My wife and friends will also tell you one of my mottos is “to be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, and to be late is unacceptable.”

Returning home

Stubits described what life was like once he returned home.

“Your experience when retiring is probably more directly related to where you retire to,” he said. “I did six years full time as a defense contractor supporting submarine program, so I was around people who were supportive of the military. After those six years I returned to Lehighton and did another six years part time working from home.

“Lehighton and Carbon County has a large veterans population, much larger than the national average and other parts of Pennsylvania. Our community has always been supportive of their veterans, a very welcoming atmosphere for sure that is much appreciated by those who served.”

Stubits encouraged anyone who may be contemplating joining the military to stay in.

“Most people joining the military don’t start out thinking they are going to make it a career,” he said. “Many can’t even think 20 or 30 years down the road and what their life might be like that far in the future, but they need to.”

Stubits said that most employers don’t have pensions anymore, maybe a 401(k) plan, and most people don’t think much about what health care will cost when they get to age 50 or 60.

“A 20- or 30-year career in the military is not easy,” he said. “I moved at least seven times, sold four homes, bought five and lived in government housing twice. That’s a lot for most individuals, including families, but you need to look at the end result.

“I have talked to many veterans who got out after four or eight years. Most have said they wished they would have stayed in.”

No hesitation

Stubits said he would serve his country all over again in a heartbeat.

“Knowing what I know now, I would most certainly serve my country again,” he said. “Entering the military was not my first choice after leaving college, but after having a rewarding career that has enabled me to have a positive impact on people and organizations, I can look back and feel like I made a difference, and who wouldn’t want to do that again?

“I also have an even deeper sense of patriotism than I had when I was a teenager, and that’s saying a lot. Much of that patriotism is pride in being an American. But now it is that and so much more — pride in being an American and pride in having served.”