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My dad passed away last night
without attaining his goal of
becoming the "Gray Dragon". He
went peacefully with his family.
Memorial Services will be held
in his home town of North
Wilkesboro, NC. Tuesday, July 7
2015. he will be cremated
internment in Arlington TBD.
Commander John E. Brooks, SC USN
enlisted the US Navy in
1941, served in North Africa,
Italy,
and Occupation Forces.
After WW2 he was ordered to Sandia
Base, in Albuquerque NM in
1949. A Nuclear Weapons
Pioneer, he Joined
the then
TOP SECRET Armed Forces
Special Weapons Project (AFSWP)
as a MK4
atomic bomb assembler.
While attached to the Navy Unit
Albuquerque NM, he
attained
the enlisted rank of Chief Petty
Officer, and
was commissioned as a Pay
Clerk Warrant
Officer, assigned as
the Ordnance Property and
Munitions Officer - Base
Ordinance. He served with,
Navy Administrative Unit,
Navy Special Weapons Units #471,
and #1233; Remembered
by some for his big new green 52
Packard. Followed by Naval
Special Weapons Unit Atlantic
(SWULANT),
Commander Naval Air Forces US
Atlantic Fleet
(CNAL),
Charged with integration and
weapons logistics for the Navy's
new AJ-1 Savage and the A3-D
Skywarrior, the NAVY strategic
nuclear deterrent,. Served TAD
deployed with the AFSWP
onboard . USS
Roosevelt CVA-42, USS Midway
CVA-41, and later ships company
on USS Intrepid CVA-11 and
USS Forrestal CVA-59.
Commissioned an Ensign in 1954
as Limited Duty Officer, in the
Supply Corp, he
held numerous Supply
Corps positions
culmination is his last
assignment as the Supply and
Fiscal Officer for the Naval
District, Washington DC.
Retiring in 1972 with 30 years
of active service. Cdr. Brooks
retired to Norfolk VA
and was active with the DAV,
he later returned to boyhood home
in Wilkes County
NC. to finish his
retirement years. John was one
of the last surviving members of
the original Armed Forces
Special Weapons Project
(AFSWP), He
kept his participation in the
program to him self until 2012
when his service record was
found and would still not talk
about the project in any
detail. He served in WW2,
Korea, and Vietnam.
Thanks
John E. Brooks Jr
LCDR USN
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