Rear Admiral Edward David Sheafer Jr. (November 27, 1940 – June 27, 2016) was an officer of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Naval career

Born and raised in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Sheafer graduated from the

Shady Side Academy } Shady Side Academy is an independent preparatory school in Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania in Greater Pittsburgh. Founded in 1883 as an all-male night school in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, the academy now offers a secular coeducation ...

in 1958. After graduating from the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...

in 1962, Sheafer served as a

surface warfare Surface warfare is naval warfare involving surface ships. It is one of the four operational areas of naval warfare, the others being underwater warfare, aerial warfare, and information warfare. Surface warfare is the oldest and most basic for ...

officer for ten years, including command at sea of the USS Persistent (MSO-491), an oceangoing minesweeper. Following a tour in Vietnam, Sheafer attended graduate school at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, where he received a master's degree in Foreign Service. Sheafer's career includes assignments such as Chief Intelligence Officer (J-2) for the

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: appointment; gra ...

with Admiral

William J. Crowe William James Crowe Jr. (January 2, 1925 – October 18, 2007) was a United States Navy admiral and diplomat who served as the 11th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, and as the ambassado ...

and General

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

, and Deputy Director of the

Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) specializing in military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense and the United States In ...

during

Desert Storm , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. Sheafer served as Director of

Naval intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

from August 1991 to September 1994, commanding an organization of 2,500 people, with a budget of more than $2 billion. Sheafer pioneered a number of efforts in the intelligence world and is known as the father of the

Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System The Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System (JWICS, ) is the United States government's secure intranet for the storage of top secret and sensitive compartmented information, primarily for use in intelligence. It is the most secure of th ...

(JWICS). Other positions Sheafer has held include: *Fleet Intelligence Officer for Commander Seventh Fleet (Pacific/Indian Ocean) *Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Fleet Ocean Surveillance Information Center (Hawaii) *OIC Fleet Ocean Surveillance Information Facility (Japan) *Soviet Submarine Analyst, Commander US Naval Forces Europe (London)

Later career

Having served more than 35 years, Admiral Edward D. Sheafer Jr. retired from the Navy in 1995. Following his retirement, Sheafer served as an advisor at senior levels in the defense and intelligence communities.

Personal

Sheafer was the son of Edward David Sheafer Sr. (February 2, 1900 – June 6, 1972) and Frances Spraggon Sheafer (April 18, 1907 – May 18, 1997). They were married in Pittsburgh on December 22, 1939. His father was a veteran of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Sheafer Jr. was married to Enid Suzanne Sheafer. The couple had two daughters and three grandchildren. After his first marriage ended in divorce, Sheafer married divorcee Patricia Loughrey (Ganson) Westine in 1982. Sheafer was interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

on March 24, 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheafer, Edward D. 1940 births 2016 deaths Shady Side Academy alumni United States Naval Academy alumni Military personnel from Pittsburgh United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni United States Navy admirals Directors of the Office of Naval Intelligence Burials at Arlington National Cemetery