| Career / Biography |
Commander Stettler entered the Navy via the Engineering Duty Officer Option Program. In September 1984, following commissioning from Officer Candidate School and initial submarine training at Submarine School, he reported to USS Tautog (SSN 639), stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. During his initial sea tour, he qualified in submarines and served as Communications Officer, Assistant Engineer, and Overhaul Coordinator.
From February 1987 through March 1990, Commander Stettler was assigned to Mare Island Naval Shipyard, in Vallejo, California. During this tour, he served in numerous capacities as Ship Superintendent, Nuclear Ship Superintendent, Ocean Engineering Ship Superintendent, Shipyard Docking Officer, and Diving and Salvage Officer. It was also during this tour that he completed the Engineering Duty Qualification Program, and obtained Navy Diving and Salvage qualifications.
From April 1990 through May 1992, he was assigned to the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center, in Panama City, Florida, where he was the Ship Salvage Course Instructor and Curriculum Developer, as well as Duty Diving Officer and the Quality Assurance Officer for the command’s diver life support systems.
From June 1992 through June 1995, he attended graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and earned the degrees of Naval Engineer (Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering) and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering. His studies concentrated in the areas of naval architecture, structural mechanics, materials science, and hydromechanics. He wrote his thesis entitled “Damping Mechanisms and Their Effects on the Whipping Response of a Submerged Submarine Subjected to an Underwater Explosion”.
From June 1995 through August 1997, he was assigned to the Program Executive Officer Submarines, New Attack Submarine Program Office (PMS 450), where he served as Deputy Design Manager for the early detailed design of the New Attack Submarine (NSSN, now the Virginia Class submarine).
From August 1997 through October 2000, Commander Stettler was assigned to the Naval Sea Systems Command, Office of the Director of Ocean Engineering, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (NAVSEA 00C), where he served as the Assistant for Salvage and the Program Manager for the Navy's naval architecture and salvage response computer software Program Of Ship Salvage Engineering (POSSE). During this tour, he supervised over 20 ship salvage and deep ocean search and recovery operations.
From October 2000 through June 2004, he resumed graduate studies at M.I.T., earning a Ph.D. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, with his research dissertation entitled “Steady and Unsteady Dynamics of an Azimuthing Podded Propulsor Related to Vehicle Maneuvering”.
Commander Stettler is currently assigned as a Permanent Military Professor in the Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering (NAOE) Department at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Commander Stettler has been awarded the Navy Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Coast Guard Achievement Medal, and Coast Guard Commandant's Commendation, in addition to numerous unit and service awards.
Commander Stettler currently resides in Grasonville, Maryland with his wife Lisa and children Richard and Charlotte. |
