By Jessica Ginet

When an aimless 19-year- old’s father suggested his son join the Navy, he never thought he would have to leave landlocked Montana.

Robert Butterton, looking back on a 30 year Naval career, enlisted in the Navy at the age of 19, after taking two quarters of courses at Montana State University. He was, as he described, “undisciplined.” His father, who was in the Army National Guard, suggested he join the Navy.

“In my mind, he was in the military and raised five kids. We didn’t move around. So that was my impression of the military when my dad suggested I join the Navy. It’s funny he suggested the Navy, knowing it would take me away from Montana. He knew that but I didn’t realize it at first,” Butterton said.

His recruiter was a submariner and that’s where Butterton eventually ended up. Butterton went to bootcamp in the Great Lakes and attended sub school in Groton, Connecticut.

Basic Enlisted Submarine School (BESS) is the U.S. Navy’s submarine training school for enlisted sailors. Located on Naval Submarine Base New London (NAVSUBASE NLON), the school is an eight week introduction to the basic theory, construction and operation of nuclear-powered submarines.

Butterton’s first sub was the Marinao G. Vallejo (SSBN-658) in August 1984. Butterton, an E-1, was given his first task on the mess deck for more than100 days.

“It honed my skills in how to act — you did what you were told and it molded you, unbeknownst to you,” Butterton said. “I enjoyed the way I was brought up in the Navy.”

He would spend 16 hours on the mess deck, feeling the slight rolling of the boat at periscope depth. His future in the Navy was sealed when, Butterton noticed a light over a navigation chart.

“I saw the Quartermaster instructing an officer on navigating from point A to point B safely, and I  knew that was what I wanted to do,” he said. And that is exactly what he did.

Butterton served from 1984-1988 on the Vallejo and then went to shore duty from 1988-1990 on the CMSG-6 in Charleston, South Carolina and met his wife, Laurel ‘Star’ Hansbarger, through mutual friends in 1989. They married on Nov. 23, 1990.

Butterton reported to the Benjamin Franklin (SSBN 640) in Charleston from 1990 until 1992.

“We lived in Charleston but would go to sea out of Kings Bay, Georgia,” he said. “In 1992 I got orders to the USS Charlotte (SSN 766) in Norfolk, Virginia,” adding, “It was being built in Newport News, Virginia.”

Butterton made chief in July 1994 the same year his son, William Hunter Butterton, was born.

“July 1994 was a big month for us,” he said.

They left Charlotte in September 1994 and Butterton went to work as the Assistant Navigator of CSS-6, completing that tour in 1998. He then had orders to the USS Alaska (SSBN-732) and moved to Kitsap County.

“The Navy’s been good to me,” he said. “We’ve only had to move three times. By the time we moved here, my family had migrated from Montana to Washington, and we’ve always had ties here; my grandpa built a cabin on Hood Canal.”

Butterton and his family only planned to stay in Kitsap County for two years, but they ended up loving Silverdale and they opted to stay. He transferred from the USS Alaska to CSS-5 and in March 2007 went to the Senior Enlisted Academy where he reported onboard the Nebraska (SSBN-739) as Chief of the Boat (COB). Butterton served in this capacity from June 2007 to June 2010, then went back to sub development squadron-5 detachment Sierra as the detachment master chief for one year, rolling into the Officer in Charge of sub special projects for personnel support detachment.

“I got to recruit and find talents for sub squadron 5, exposing those individuals to a different side of the Navy,” Butterton said.

Butterton’s retirement ceremony was March 14, 2014.

“I never thought I would serve 30 years. Later on, as a COB, I would see those fresh out of bootcamp or A-school and I would really talk to them about the realities of separation, deployment, etc., to both the sailor and their spouse.”

One of Butterton’s fondest memories while serving was receiving family grams. The only form of communication those days between the submarine sailor and their family, each sailor was allowed eight family grams per patrol (each patrol was approximately 75 days), and each family gram was limited to 40 words.

“That family gram would be precious,” Butterton said. “You would run to your rack and read those 40 words and it would reset everything. . . everything is OK at home, she still loves you…”

It wasn’t until 1999 that the family grams fell by the wayside and the sailor email format began.

“You could get a paragraph or two in and that was a huge advancement. But then you would get spoiled and want more and more,” he said.

Butterton went on 22 patrols during his career. While he couldn’t divulge the special projects work he was a part of, he said he would have done special projects earlier if he knew what they entailed. His big push toward the end of his career was to expose young sailors to special projects.

Now officially retired from the Navy, Butterton gives back to the local community. He serves as the Central Kitsap Food Bank board president. Butterton serves around 15 hours a week at the food bank while he looks for jobs with the Department of Defense.

Transitioning from the benefits of the Navy to a civilian job is challenging, he said.

“Try to find a company out there where you get 30 days of paid vacation a year,” he said.