Alan Gibbs
John Concannon, Publicity
The year was 1946. War World II had ended and the world was at peace; Harry Truman was firmly in charge and a whole new era in suburban living was starting with the Levittown concept on Long Island. That was also the year during which Alan Gibbs was born in Marlboro, MA where he spent his early childhood. He attended high school in Woonsocket, R.I. where he lettered in football and first became interested in golf.
Upon graduation in 1964, Alan decided to join the Navy. He had developed an interest in computers and upon completion of basic training at Great Lakes Training Center, attended Fire Control (Gunnery) School and was assigned to the USS Gearing (DD-710) in Newport, R.I. He had one cruise to the Mediterranean under his belt when he was sent back to Great Lakes Training Center for further training after which he was assigned to the USS Chandler (DD-717) in Yokosuka, Japan. He spent a total of four years on his ship, part of a destroyer squadron that alternated between Japan and Vietnam.
He was sent to San Diego in 1969 and eventually became manager of the Enlisted Men’s Club. He returned to Japan in 1972 and eventually was assigned to a Patrol Gun Boat in Guam in 1973. Then in November of 1974 he went to San Diego to attend school, becoming a Career Counselor. While doing his career counseling, he managed to play a lot of golf and in 1978 became Captain of the Base Commander’s personal golf team. While doing his counseling job, he traveled extensively for three years playing tournaments against other Armed Forces golf teams. (I know I should have chosen the Navy over the Army).
In 1981, Alan was assigned to the USS McKee, a new type of Sub Tender as the ship’s Career Counselor.
An interesting aspect of that ship was that it was the first ship in the U.S. Navy that was set up for male and female naval personnel. Of the 1100 crew, there were 300 women from seaman to officer ranks.
It was in 1981 when Alan married Michelle, a native of Taiwan, whom he had met in 1973. When asked why the long courtship, Alan’s only response was, “I was a sailor.” (I’m not going there). Alan retired from the Navy in October of 1982 to enter the civilian work force. He worked for several defense contractors including I.T.T. General Dynamics, and the Northrop-Grumman Corp. While in the Navy Alan was able to earn a B.B.A in Business and eventually attained Master’s degrees in Business and Education. He spent most of his civilian career training civilian and armed forces personnel in a very complicated Electronics field. He lost me early on when explaining his work.
Alan retired in July of 2004 and moved to Sun Lakes. He joined IMGA AND MOGA almost immediately and spent one term as Secretary of IMGA. He is actively involved with the Phoenix First Tee Program.