Admiral Christopher W. Grady (left), United States Navy Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff congratulates Vice Admiral Randy Crites during the retirement ceremony for Crites on 8/3/23 in Washington, D.C.
Photo courtesy of the Navy Office of Communications/DOD photo by Benjamin Applebaum.
It all began in late autumn, 1982 with an advertisement in The Ohio State University school newspaper, The Lantern. The article contained information about the U.S. Navy and depicted a photo of a submarine. The slogan, “Join the Navy and see the world,” piqued the interest of Randy Crites, an engineering student at OSU.
A 40-year career
Crites decided to learn more about the Navy, so he took a tour of a submarine in Norfolk, Virginia. When he entered the birthing compartment of the submarine during the 45-minute tour, Crites said he encountered a sailor who warned him, “You’ll be sorry.” Crites said, “He couldn’t have been more wrong.” On October 1, 2023, Crites will formally retire from a very gratifying 40-year naval career. Since 2020, Crites has served as the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Integration Capabilities and Resources.
A formal retirement ceremony honoring Vice Admiral Crites was held in the Washington (D.C.) Navy Yard on August 3, 2023. Admiral Christopher Grady, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, served as the ceremony’s presiding officer.
A 1980 Shawnee High School graduate
Crites, who grew up on a small farm near Lima, Ohio, had no prior knowledge of submarines. He graduated from Shawnee High School in 1980 then entered The Ohio State University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in engineering in 1984. After reading the information in The Lantern, Crites enrolled in the Navy while still in college and was commissioned in February 1985, commissioning through the Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate program. Crites completed a master’s degree in National Security Affairs at the College of Naval Command and Staff at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island in 1996 and is a graduate of MIT Seminar XXI National Securities study program.
Crites’ first submarine assignment was from 1986-1989 aboard the USS Ray, followed by shore duty in Charleston, South Carolina. Crites recalled, “At the end of my first sea tour, my contract came up,.I ended up staying and we just kept going.” Crites stated, “The primary reason I stayed in so long is the camaraderie in the military. I have been blessed to have strong crews … super-talented people to work for, and with, me. It has been very rewarding. I have always believed that if you take care of your people, they will take care of you.”
A close call
“Everything we do at sea involves risks, so we depend on the qualifications of the crew. I felt confident in the training of the teams.” Crites did admit to having a couple of close calls. On Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked commercial airlines, with one of the planes crashing into the Pentagon, Crites was on the fourth floor of the building. The plane hit the E ring at the first deck level. Crites recalls that incident as one of his “close calls” and “a very sad day.”
18-hour days
Describing being aboard a submarine, Crites stated, “There’s a lot of isolation. You’re on a different clock. We had an 18-hour day. Six hours you stand watch, six hours you are training or performing other duties and six hours you rest or sleep. When you are awake, you are working. Once you get into that routine, you lose track of time. There is some sensory deprivation and you notice it when you are back [off the submarine]. You notice the look and smell of grass.” For Crites, the family separation was the most difficult. His wife Cheryl (Page) was his high school sweetheart at Shawnee High School. He describes Cheryl as “very strong and able to manage the household,” which enabled him to be successful in his career.
Family roots
Despite living in 17 different locations during his military career, the Crites family had some stability by residing in their home in King’s Bay, Georgia when they returned to that location. They purchased the home in 1998. In addition to their home in Georgia, they own the Crites family home on Kemp Road, outside of Lima. The Crites family roots in Allen County can be traced to Randy Crites’ great, great, great-grandfather, Jacob Crites, who settled in German Township (now known as American Township) in 1842.
A propensity for service
Reflecting on his career, Crites stated, “I had a propensity for service. My dad (the late Larry Crites) was Army ROTC and a reservist for 12 years. My (maternal) grandfather, William Ellis Miller served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific during World War II.”
Personal military awards
Crites’ personal awards include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal and Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal. Crites is most proud of his various unit awards that reflect credit on the successful teams with whom he has been privileged to serve.
As Crites prepared to send out an email indicating his intention to retire, he said he hesitated momentarily as he acknowledged, “This is really going to happen.” He admits that he is “starting to get fidgety after 8 days, so I’ll probably begin a second career. I’m keeping my options open.”
A promise fulfilled
In his 40-year career with the U.S. Navy, Crites visited 46 different countries. The slogan he read in The Lantern at OSU in 1982 proved to be true: “Join the Navy and see the world.”
