The Navy Bio

From: Charlene Cole
Sandy Creek/Lacona Historian
1992 Harwood Drive P. O. Box 52
Sandy Creek, New York 13145-0052
315-387-5456 x 7
historian@sandycreekny.us


“Sandy Creek Veterans” Questionnaire: service dates from 1960 to ?


Name: Stephen Eric Kappesser

Date of Birth/Place of Birth: Born: 1954, Sandy Pond, N.Y

Graduated HS/Where: SCCS Class of ‘72,
Auburn Community College ‘74 - A.A.S. Electronics /Electrical Technology

US Navy Electronics Technician School
US Air Force Precision Measurement Electronics Metrology Certification
US Air Force Advanced Microwave Measurement Metrology Certification
Certified Calibration Technician - American Society for Quality (ASQ)
Certified Quality Manager Training (Quality Council of Indiana)
Certified Manager of Quality / Organizational Excellence – ASQ
Johns Hopkins University

Parents: Edward and Ruth (Ashby) Kappesser

Spouse: Barbara Lynn (Ellington) Kappesser, Pekin IL.

Marriage date and location: June 26, 1982, US Naval Facility Chapel, Argentia Newfoundland, Canada.

Military Branch: US Navy

Rank: Petty Officer 1st Class Electronics Technician (E6), NEC 1588 Test Equipment Calibrator

Years of Service: 6

Service Information

Duty Stations:
Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois 1980,
USN Radar & Communications Electronics School, Great Lakes, Illinois 1980-1982,
Precision Measurement Electronics School, Lowry Air Force Base, Denver, Colorado 1982.
US Naval Facility, Argentia, Newfoundland, Canada 1982-1984,
Naval Submarine Support Facility, US Naval Submarine Base, Groton, Connecticut 1984-1986.

Medals/Awards:
· First in Class - Radar & Communications Electronics School, Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois 1982.
· Sailor of the Quarter, Operations Dept., US Naval Facility, Sound Underwater Surveillance System, Ocean Systems Atlantic, Naval Facility Argentia, Newfoundland, Canada 1983.
· Good Conduct Medal, Naval Submarine Support Facility, Submarine Base New London, Groton, Connecticut 1985.
· Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen Cold War Certificate of Recognition, (post-service) 1998.

Children:
Stephanie Nicole Kappesser (B. 1982)
Robert Edward Kappesser (B. 1986)
Sherry Louise Kappesser (B. 1988)
Joseph Adam Kappesser (B.1990)

Please include oral history/story/comments of your service years

A native of Sandy Pond, and a K-12 student at SCCS from 1959 through 1972, Steve was the son of WWII Veteran, retired State Trooper, and Sandy Creek Town Justice Edward Kappesser and his wife Ruth.
He graduated 7th in his class at SCCS in 1972 and attended Auburn Community College until 1974, earning a degree in Electronics.

Kappesser decided to serve his country at the age of 25, enlisting in the Navy’s newly deployed 6-year Advanced Electronics Program in 1980. He graduated from basic training at the Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois, with the rank of E4, and was duly transferred to the Navy’s Radar & Communications Electronics School at the adjoining Naval Training Center. There, he graduated first in his class and was transferred to Precision Measurement Electronics School at Lowry Air Force Base, Denver - then on to Naval Facility Argentia, Newfoundland, Canada, assigned as Work Center Supervisor of the base's Electronics Calibration Laboratory.


Kappesser was part of a technical crew that maintained one of the Navy’s (then classified) Sound Underwater Surveillance Systems (SOSUS), tasked with detecting and tracking Soviet nuclear submarines in the North Atlantic during the Cold War. While stationed there, he met and courted Barbara Ellington, who was then a Navy Storekeeper 3rd Class, and they married in June of ‘82.

He was assigned to Naval Submarine Support Facility at Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut from ‘84 to ‘86, part of a technical crew that maintained various classes of nuclear fast attack submarines, including the new Los Angeles (688) Class.

He ended his Navy service in '86 to gain lucrative employment working for various defense contractors on various projects including the Army’s Patriot Missile program,




the Navy’s Standard Missile program,






and a Special Operations Command MATT program...


Kappesser currently works as a Quality Engineer III for M/A-Com Signal Intelligence Products, Hunt Valley, Maryland, providing Uncle Sam and her Allies with advanced signal intelligence equipment for various applications:


Microwave signal intelligence search and set-on receivers and peripheral products are used by Uncle Sam and her Allies in Ground applications:"

Air applications:





Unmanned air applications:

MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle



Sea applications:

Navy's SEAL (Sea Air Land Commandos) Insertion, Observation and Neutralization (SEALION) II craft.




Undersea applications:

Navy Seawolf submarine.