Page 80 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2023 - Online Magazine

Greg Hartfield Submariner and Naval
“ n the Navy Reserve, men and
women from all walks of life
Ijoin together to experience
unrivaled training, undeniable
purpose, and uncommon
adventure” (USNR website).
Reservists traditionally drill one
weekend a month and perform
two weeks of active-duty training
annually, but the story of one
local sailor reads more like an
“uncommon adventure” than a
training manual.
Big Spring native and Army
veteran Sam Hartfield raised an
average student participating in
athletics and the marching band
in high school and who, after a
short stint in college, decided to
follow his dad into the Army.
Recruiter maneuvering led
instead to a commitment to the
US Navy and disdain from Sam.
When Greg got to Naval Training
Center Great Lakes for boot
80 Lubbock Senior Link
Intelligence
by Jane Bromley
camp, he had 20 seconds to call to the USS George Phillip FFG-
his dad. I said, “Dad, I’m here, 12, and his drill weekends were
and I am safe,” and Sam said, “So spent at sea. He soon changed
you’re gonna be wearin’ a dog his specialty from weapons to
bowl on your head?” Naval Intelligence and followed
suit by becoming a Border Patrol
Submarine School in Groton, CT Intelligence Agent.
was next, and then he reported
to the USS Tecumseh SSBN 628 Greg and longtime girlfriend
in Charleston, SC just before Tracy married in June 1996,
Christmas 1986. The ballistic but instead of settling into a
missile submarine conducted calmer, safer routine, Op Tempo
Strategic Deterrent Patrols in increases sent him on details
the North Atlantic with endless to different Sectors with the
qualifications, casualty drills and Border Patrol and increased
routine watch standing, all the mobilizations with the reserves.
while maintaining continuous All the while, he continued to
communications with Strategic pursue his Master's degree in
Command. “Everything on a public administration. “It was
boat is compartmentalized, need intense.”
to know, and often you have no
idea where you are or if it is day The nature of his reserve job was
or night.” Greg stood watch as much more than routine training.
Torpedoman of the Watch and After 9/11, he was selected for
Fire Control Technician of the Naval Special Warfare Group 1
Watch during the three and a (NAVSPECWAR)—providing
half years aboard the Tecumseh. intelligence, planning, and
“It was the best thing I ever support for Special Ops. In
did,” and his dad was ultimately
proud.
Greg went straight into the
Reserves in Amarillo while
earning a degree in Criminal
Justice Administration at WT in
Canyon. Upon graduation, he
moved to Colorado and drilled
on the Buckley AFB, assigned
to the Naval Weapons Station
Seal Beach as a Heavy Weapons
Handler. In July 1995, he joined
the US Border Patrol and was
sent to Imperial Beach, CA,
where he worked for four years
as a line agent for Operation
Gatekeeper; meanwhile, the
Navy Reserve reassigned him