American Bluejackets

R.L. Mathis joined the Navy thirteen days after graduating high school. During his twenty-two-year naval career he completed four tours of duty in Vietnam, participated in the attack on Libya, engaged gunrunners off the coast of Somalia to stop the flow of arms, and patrolled the Persian Gulf protecting oil tankers and ensuring the sea lanes were safe for shipping. He was the only enlisted man in the Navy who was a fully qualified conning officer and was the first in the Navy to receive the Enlisted Surface Warfare Pin. During his twenty-two years of service to his country Master Chief Mathis spent over fourteen years deployed overseas and visited over sixty different countries. After retiring from the Navy he took a job as head of security for a major engineering company that deals with Department of Defense contracts.