LCDR Andrew J. Curtin USN

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER ANDREW JAMES CURTIN, U.S. NAVY (RET)

ANDREW JAMES CURTIN was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1940. He and his parents lived in near-by Clark’s Summit until his father’s death in 1942.
His mother moved them to the Washington, D.C., area to work for the War Department. Andrew’s early schooling was at Linton Hall in Bristow, Virginia, and St. John’s College in Washington, D.C.
Andrew was in two companies at the U.S. Naval Academy. His first was the 4th/14th and he was a member of the 16th upon graduation in 1963. The USS PRESTON (DD 795) was his first duty assignment.
He completed flight training in Pensacola, Florida, and was designated a Naval Aviator in July, 1966. Assigned initially to Helicopter Composite Support Squadron ONE (HC-1) at NAAS Imperial Beach, California, followed by Helicopter Combat Support Squadron SEVEN, Atsugi, Japan. He flew search and rescue missions from various frigates and cruisers in the Tonkin Gulf. He received several awards, including the Distinguished Flying Cross.
He returned to Pensacola as a primary flight instructor at Helicopter Training Squadron EIGHT (HT-8), followed by a Mediterranean cruise during his tour with Helicopter Antisubmarine Warfare Squadron SEVEN (HS-7) in Quonset Point, Rhode Island and Jacksonville, Florida.
Shortly before moving with HS-7 to Jacksonville, he married Navy Lieutenant
Cara Cortner, whom he had met in Pensacola when she was an Ensign.
Upon completing his tour with Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron ONE (HS-1) in Jacksonville, he accepted orders to the Naval Technical Advisory Field Team in Tehran, Iran.
That tour ended abruptly with the Iranian Revolution of 1979. His next duty station was with Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
After retiring from the U.S. Navy in 1983, Andrew and his wife moved to Fernandina Beach, Florida, and he began his second career of flying the Emergency Medical Service helicopter for University Hospital in Jacksonville.
Since retiring after twenty years of EMS operations, Andrew has become active in local politics and is a member of both the Civil Air Patrol and the Experimental Aircraft Association.
He is still an active pilot and flies his Cessna-182 quite often.

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