Nils Ronald "Ron" Thunman (born 26 February 1932) is a retired vice admiral 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 ...

. Thunman is the son of Swedish immigrants, and was raised in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, where he attended Springfield High School. During high school he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and was in involved in track. After high school, he briefly attended the University of Illinois College of Civil Engineering. He graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) 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 ...

in 1954. Initially trained as a surface warfare officer, Thunman was given command of the patrol boat USS ''Marysville'' in 1957. Transferring to submarines, he became chief engineer on . After receiving nuclear power training, Thunman served as executive officer of (1964 to 1966), commanding officer of the attack submarine (1968 to 1971) and commanding officer of ballistic missile

Submarine Squadron 15 Submarine Squadron 15 (also known as SUBRON 15) is a squadron of submarines of the United States Navy based at Naval Base Guam. Fleet Ballistic Missile squadron 1963–1981 Submarine Squadron Fifteen was established on 1 September 1963 at Pear ...

based in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

(1974 to 1976). Notable commands he later held include Commander, Submarine Forces Pacific (1979 to 1981), Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Submarine Warfare (1981 to 1985) and Chief of Naval Education and Training (1985 to 1988). He retired in 1988. He was Superintendent/President of the

Valley Forge Military Academy and College Valley Forge Military Academy and College (VFMAC) is a private boarding school (grades 7–12) and military junior college in Wayne, Pennsylvania. It follows in the traditional military school format with army traditions. Though military in tr ...

Wayne, Pennsylvania Wayne is an unincorporated community centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on the Main Line, a series of highly affluent Philadelphia suburbs located along the railroad tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and one of the wealthiest areas ...

from 1 August 1990 to 1 September 1993. He is a member of the Springfield High School Hall of Fame and Springfield Sports Hall of Fame. He is president of CAE Electronics Corporation. He has also served in the directorship of Pinkerton Government Services, Illini Corporation and ABB Government Services Corporation.

References

1932 births Living people People from Springfield, Illinois People from Lima, Ohio United States Naval Academy alumni United States submarine commanders United States Navy admirals Military personnel from Illinois {{US-navy-bio-stub