Naval officer gets a change in command

Retired U.S. Navy Commander David Brittian and his wife Dharlene moved to Canyon Lake last April and are still getting acquainted with their new community. Retired from 27 years of active duty in the Navy and 18 years as a civilian defense contractor/consultant, David is trying to make the most of his “change in command.”

David received many accolades over the years, including 11 personal commendation medals. After the Navy, he was recognized by the National Defense Industrial Association and awarded four consecutive Certificates of Merit. He also received the Copernicus Award for professional expertise, pictured here, presented by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA). Photo provided by David Brittian

David received many accolades over the years, including 11 personal commendation medals. After the Navy, he was recognized by the National Defense Industrial Association and awarded four consecutive Certificates of Merit. He also received the Copernicus Award for professional expertise, pictured here, presented by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA). Photo provided by David Brittian

When he and Dharlene were considering where to move after living in the San Diego area for the past 24 years, they had two priorities: their new home had to be at least five miles away from any type of airport and it had to be near water.

The water is understandable; after all, David has spent his whole life working on or with ships. He also has a fleet of some 25 remote-controlled boats at his command.

Desiring to live away from an airport requires a little more explanation. It isn’t because he has sea legs. On the contrary, he graduated from Naval Fighter Weapons School, better known as Top Gun, in 1980 and has a long history with naval aviation.

The reason the Brittians don’t want to live near an airport is because their last home in El Cajon was 1.2 miles from the county-owned airport, Gillespie Field. It was a nice neighborhood, but they got tired of air traffic and the hazards. In 1997, a small plane crashed into the house directly behind them. The pilot died; his pilot log landed a few feet away from where their young daughter was jumping on her trampoline.

As bad as that was, it wasn’t the catalyst for moving. That was the year David retired from the Navy and immediately was hired back to work at his same desk as a civilian defense contractor. Absorbed in his career as a naval architect/engineer for the Third Fleet Command, and another program for three new ships, he wasn’t home enough to realize how the air traffic above his house was increasing.

His home habits changed when, in 2012, the Department of Defense was told to cut its budget by 250 billion dollars. David was caught in the fiscal downsizing, as was the ship he was in charge of modernizing, the USS Coronado, now de-commissioned.

Suddenly David was at home. Suddenly those planes flying above his house captured his attention. It was well known that Gillespie Field was where one of the Al Qaeda pilots in the 9/11 attacks received his flight training.

Since the flight schools at Gillespie were attracting more foreign pilots, and daily takeoffs were increasing, David decided to find out exactly who was in those planes above his house. He tuned the frequency of his CB radio to the airfield’s tower radio and started listening to the calls. The voices were predominantly Asian. He also began video recording the flights and keeping records.

Calling himself “Sky Watch,” he soon became an advocate for safer airport policies, His efforts helped lead officials to institute a policy requiring San Diego County flight schools to conduct background checks on foreign pilots. (A YouTube video by ABC 10 News features his efforts.)

In his forced retirement, David got “on the airwaves” in another capacity, becoming a volunteer with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education by teaching young urban black students how to discover their voice and self-confidence behind the microphone of radio station KKSD Jazz.

Retirement also gave him time to learn more about himself. He currently is taking a class offered by the Veterans Administration that helps long-term veterans understand the impact their careers and exposure to war and trauma have had on their brains.

He has been assessed a disabled veteran, though one wouldn’t guess as much meeting him in person. “The VA program has taught me to slow my brain down,” says David in seeking to describe what he’s learned about the cognitive processes that shaped his brain through decades of military discipline, responsibility and achievement.

As a black man from the South, it’s apparent his rise to power and prestige took plenty of mental energy and fortitude. Born and raised in Newnan, Georgia, David’s Class of 1971 was the first mandatory integrated class in town. He grew up with discrimination and says he experienced what it meant to “go to the back of the bus.”

David and Dharlene are supportive of each other's hobbies – he with his boats and...

David and Dharlene are supportive of each other’s hobbies – he with his boats and…

Motivated by the Vietnam draft, David opted to enlist in the U.S. Navy to avoid face-to-face combat. He attended basic training at Point Loma’s Navy Recruit Training Center in San Diego; then spent the next nine years in Hawaii. Working on destroyers, he had two tours in Viet Nam, including three years escorting aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Tonka.

After rising to the top of the enlisted ranks, David applied for and became a Commissioned Officer. He served on the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower in the early 1980s during hostilities in Kuwait.

A few years later, his life took a romantic turn while serving aboard the USS Virginia. On Martin Luther King Day weekend 1987, the USS Virginia made a port visit in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. While there, the Navy League invited David and his fellow officers to attend the grand opening of the Banyon Yacht Club in Ft. Lauderdale.

Also attending the elegant occasion was a lovely international student from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Dharlene was studying Hospitality Management at the University of Florida when her professor invited her to attend the yacht club event. She says the handsome black officer in his white uniform stood out in the crowd. She notes, “He had more ribbons than anyone else.”

David invited her to attend his ship’s open house the next day, which she did. Raised on the Canadian prairie, she had never seen any type of military ship and was duly impressed, especially with David in charge of the open house.

They began a long-distance relationship that consisted of letters and cards. It was the days before cell phones and internet, and it was almost impossible to talk on the phone when David was at sea.

Dharlene had a successful career as director of training for all the Fuddruckers restaurants in Canada. She traveled, David traveled, and airports were just an accepted part of their courtship and early marriage.

As an adventurous person in a feminist environment, Dharlene wasn’t concerned about their interracial relationship, and David was well accepted by her family and friends. She gave up her singleness and career, if not her citizenship, to get married on May 26, 1989 in Virginia Beach. Being the wife of an officer was a prestigious position. But it was still the Navy – and David had to ship out three days after their wedding. He was deployed twice – during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.

Dharlene and David are pictured with their children, Savannah and David Alexander, seated in front. Joining them at Christmas was David's older daughter Lashanda. Photos by Donna Kupke

Dharlene and David are pictured with their children, Savannah and David Alexander, seated in front. Joining them at Christmas was David’s older daughter Lashanda. Photos by Donna Kupke

David was protecting the the no-fly zone over Kuwait aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Nimitz when their son, David Alexander, was born. Two years later, their daughter, Savannah, came along. Both children were born at the Balboa Naval Medical Center in San Diego.

Just a few years later, David retired as commander from the Navy and began a successful civilian career. Asked about what it took to overcome racial prejudice in the early years, David says, “I rose to the top to avoid the bullshit at the bottom. I worked hard and was good at what I did.” He received many accolades over the years, including 11 personal commendation medals.

After the Navy, he was recognized by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) and awarded four consecutive Certificates of Merit. He also received the Copernicus Award for professional expertise, presented by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA).

As the saying goes, “behind every great man is a great woman.” Dharlene is not meant to be a footnote to the Brittian story. She is still a mom, with their son and daughter living at home while they attend college. But she has begun investing her curiosity and creativity in a new direction. Being a tea drinker all her life, there came a moment when she wanted to discover the answers to two questions:

What is tea anyway?

... she with her tea

… she with her tea

Why is tea associated with tranquility and spirituality?

She became a certified tea specialist, author and inspirational speaker on those subjects, taking trips to several Asian countries to further her research.

On her website, dharlenmariefahi.com, she calls herself Tea Goddess and writes a bimonthly blog. She also promotes her book, “Sereni-Tea: Seven Sips to Bliss” (available at amazon.com). One of the book reviewers writes, “At a time when the world is making it harder to find a ‘spot’ of serenity, Dharlene Marie guides us towards inner peace, self-love and bliss, with a ‘spot’ of tea.”

Dharlene currently is working on a series of e-books that are guided meditations. She also provides entertaining and informative presentations about tea and tranquility, usually at senior centers.

She’s a busy person but does try to take her own advice, making time for quiet moments in her new Canyon Lake life. One of her favorite things to do is take her camera out for picture-taking during her early morning walks in the community. She appears to be supportive of David’s hobbies and he of hers.

Commander of a New Fleet

Photo by Donna Kupke

Photo by Donna Kupke

On a recent winter morning, David and Dharlene brought some of his remote-controlled boats to Indian Beach. He has been collecting them since his retirement. The first purchase was a 26-inch long sailboat that requires the skills of a mariner. He can control the keel and two booms, but the boat’s forward motion is powered by the wind. David says he modifies most of his “toys” to be more responsive, and the sailboat is no exception. He added lead to the keel to make it more stable.

He uses some of his boats for STEM classes for inner city youth in San Diego. For beginners, he has a a tabletop tank that holds five gallons of water and includes four 4-inch remote-controlled boats. He also has five AquaCraft Reef Racers and a course with flags that can be set up in calm waters. And then there are the bigger boats, one of which is a fire boat that shoots a stream of water 10 feet, and a red NQD Sports Game 757 hydrofoil that can go up to 25 mph.

Another new hobby is his drone, a wi-fi quadricopter that is registered with the FAA. Normally controlled by a smartphone or tablet, David modified his drone so that he could program it with his Mac but maneuver it with a hand-held controller. It has two cameras and two altimeters.

Is it any wonder that David’s official position in the U.S. Navy was Tactical Command and Control Center Officer?

 




Weather

CANYON LAKE WEATHER

Facebook