Robert Lee Leuschner Jr. (March 13, 1935 – July 19, 2016) was a

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

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 ...

. He was Commander of the nuclear-powered carrier from 1983 to 1986. A native of Texas, he was born in Waco, and later moved with his family to San Diego, California, where he graduated from high school. In 1953, he was admitted to Rice Institute in Houston, where he enrolled in the chemical engineering curriculum. He also joined the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC), so that immediately after receiving his bachelor's degree, he was also commissioned as ensign in the U.S. Navy.

Early years

Leuschner, known as "Skip" by most of his school classmates, attended high school in San Diego, California. He was then admitted to

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

, then named Rice Institute, where he joined the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC), majored in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

and graduated with a bachelor's degree in May 1957. He was immediately commissioned as ensign in the U.S. Navy,E-Yearbook.com. "Captain Robert L. Leuschner, Jr., U. S. Navy." ''Enterprise (CVN 65) Cruise Book''. 1984.
Accessed November 14, 2017. which would set his life career course.

Naval career

In September, 1957, he began flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas, becoming designated as a naval aviator in December, 1958. He was then posted to Naval Air Station Miramar, California. Leuschner spent four years based at Miramar flying the Douglas A-1 Skyraider with the Attack Squadron 5-2. As part of this tour, he flew from , in the Western Pacific, and , off South America. In 1963, Leuschner entered the Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland, after which he served for two years as a test pilot and project officer in the Flight Test Division. He then went to the Naval Air Station at Lemoore, California to train on flying the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, before he was deployed in 1967 to Southeast Asia, where he became the squadron safety and weapons officer aboard the . Returning to Lemoore, he trained to fly the A-7B Corsair II, after which he was redeployed to Southeast Asia, with Attack Squadron 2-1-5, aboard USS ''Enterprise''. He returned to Lemoore, where he served as weapons officer, aircraft maintenance officer and operations officer until 1972. During this period, he was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal for establishing the Pacific Fleet Light Weapons School (LAWS) for postgraduate level air-to-ground weapons training. From 1972 to 1974, Leuschner served aboard the as executive officer and commanding officer of Attack Squadron 1-5-5 (the "Silver Foxes") Leuschner attended the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island in 1975, then was selected for nuclear power training, which he completed in early 1977. In June 1977, he was posted to as a relief operations officer. He was made executive officer on the ''Nimitz'' from 1978 until July 1979. After a short tour of duty onshore as a staff officer for Commander Tactical Wings, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, he was named commander of the combat stores ship in July 1980. Reporting to the staff of the Commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, in March, 1982, he directed a variety of special projects to improve the combat readiness and material condition of the United States Sixth Fleet aircraft carriers. On June 17, 1983, Leuschner became commander of the USS ''Enterprise''.

Relief of command

The then-Capt. Robert Leuschner was replaced 27 January 1986 as skipper of the USS ''Enterprise'' after the ship struck a barely submerged rock on a seamount ( Cortes Bank) 100 miles west of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

in November 1985, causing $17 million in damage to the hull.

Awards, honors and medals

Leuschner's individual awards include the: *

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

, * Meritorious Service Medal, *

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

(28 awards). * Navy Commendation Medal with Gold Star and Combat " V ", * Navy Achievement Medal, * Navy Unit Commendation Medal, *

Joint Services Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

He also received various theater and campaign ribbons. Captain Leuschner has been selected for promotion to the rank of commodore.

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