Larry R. Seaquist (born July 6, 1938) is an American politician, retired

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

captain, and academic who served as a member of the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

from 2007 to 2015. He ran for Pierce County executive in 2020 and lost to incumbent Republican

Bruce Dammeier Bruce F. Dammeier (born 1961) is an American politician and engineer serving as the county executive of Pierce County, Washington. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a member of both chambers of the Washington State Legis ...

by ten percentage points.

Early life and education

Seaquist was born September 7, 1938, In

Idaho Falls, Idaho Idaho Falls (Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: Dembimbosaage) is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is the state's largest city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 Un ...

, the first of five children of Dorothy to Roger Seaquist, Seaquist lived on the family farm and attended Ammon Elementary School in

Ammon, Idaho Ammon, the city "Where Tomorrow Begins," is a suburb city located directly between the Ammon foothills on the east and the city of Idaho Falls on the west, in Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. As of the 2010 US Census, the population of Ammo ...

. After sharecropping on several farms in the area, his parent scraped together the down payment for a 100-acre farm outside

Vale, Oregon Vale is a city in and the county seat of Malheur County, Oregon, United States, about west of the Idaho border. It is at the intersection of U.S. Routes 20 and 26, on the Malheur River at its confluence with Bully Creek. Vale was selected as ...

. Graduating as class valedictorian from Vale High School in 1956, Seaquist attended

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

in Corvallis, Oregon, studying physics and meteorology. Seaquist dropped out of college in his junior year, working for a few months as a firefighter and ambulance driver for the Corvallis Fire Department. Seaquist later earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oregon State in 1963.

Career

Arctic and Antarctic service

Hired by the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

, Seaquist began on his 21st birthday a year-long assignment as a weather observer at the Barter Island radar site of the

Distant Early Warning Line The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska (see Proj ...

. Living beside the indigenous village of Kaktovic, Alaska, Seaquist becoming a specialist in flying twice-daily radiosonde balloon probes of the atmosphere and reporting on ice and weather conditions. He volunteered to follow that year in the Arctic with another in the Antarctic, this time as an American rep to the Argentine Antarctica deployment at Ellsworth Station where he again flew radiosondes for upper atmosphere measurements and made ices measurements as part of the global weather tracking system. That year extended to 14 months when the Argentine icebreaker, General San Martine, stuck in the ice in the Wendell Sea, was unable to resupply the station on time. Seaquist then flew on Argentina’s first flight to the South Pole, returned home via the U.S. base at McMurdo, and returned to school.

Military

Seaquist served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1962 to 1994. He worked at

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

and retired after serving as the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the . He commanded the ''Iowa'' from 25 April 1986 through 26 May 1988. He was renowned on USS ''Iowa'' at choosing an enlisted crew member each day, telling them to be on the bridge at 1800 hours and have a song ready which the crew member had to create. At 1800 hours, the Captain would announce "I'd like to introduce you to today's singing boatswain mate", at which time the crew member had to sing over the ships 1MC announcement system to the entire crew. He served as a technical adviser for the 2001 film '' A Glimpse of Hell''.

Politics

In 2007, Seaquist was elected to the

, representing

Washington's 26th legislative district Washington's 26th legislative district is one of forty-nine districts in Washington state for representation in the state legislature. The district includes southeastern Kitsap Peninsula from Bremerton and Port Orchard in the north to Gig Harb ...

, which covers the Kitsap Peninsula from Bremerton and Port Orchard in the north to

Gig Harbor Gig Harbor is the name of both a bay on Puget Sound and a city on its shore in Pierce County, Washington,. The population was 12,029 at the 2020 census. Gig Harbor is one of several cities and towns that claim to be "the gateway to the Olympic ...

in the south. In 2014, Seaquist lost his seat in a heated election to Michelle Caldier.

Later career

Since leaving the

, Seaquist has worked as a Political Science professor at the Evergreen State College, and speaks as an expert on national security and military issues.

References

Additional sources

External links

* Larry Seaquist in conversation with British YouTuber naval historian drachinifel. {{DEFAULTSORT:Seaquist, Larry 1938 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Oregon State University alumni People from Idaho Falls, Idaho United States Navy officers