Robert Cleve Beers' Obituary
Robert “Bob” Cleve Beers, age 87, passed away peacefully at his home in Moorestown on August 27, 2017.
Bob was a Mauch Chunk High School graduate class of 1947, and went on to receive his B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania. He then received his Masters degree from Monterey Post Graduate School. He then joined the United States Navy in 1953 and retired after 28 years as a Captain. Bob joined Lockheed Martin (then the RCA Corporation) in 1981, and retired as Vice President of the Naval Systems Group in 1996.
Bob was the beloved husband of Shirley Adele (nee Milford) for 65 years. Loving father of William (Victoria), Bobette (Mary Ellen), David (Barbara), Judy Raze (Randy), and Pamela Neumeyer (David). Dear Pop Pop to Lara (James), David (Alodiah), Amanda (Timothy), Caroline (Daniel), Stephen (Rebekah), Marisa, Kristyn (Brian), Daniel, Jessica (David), Eryn, Robert, Jaymie, and Taylor. Great Pop Pop of Jackson, Lola, Mark, Gianna, Charlotte, Asher, Elli, Claire, Josiah, Grace, Alasdair, and Aiden.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend Bob’s life celebration gathering and service on Saturday, September 2nd, at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, 601 Kings Hwy N., Cherry Hill, NJ, 08034, from 10:30 am – 12 pm. His service will begin at 12 pm. Burial will take place at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA. In lieu of flowers, donations in Bob’s memory may be made to St. Michael’s Lutheran Church at the above address. To share your fondest memories and condolences with Bob’s family, please visit www.Givnish.com.
Biography, as written by Robert in 2005:
As a senior at Mauch Chunk H.S. in 1947, I was fortunate to win a generous NROTC (Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps) 4 year scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia.
After a rocky start at Penn (I was out of school from 1949 to 1951), I graduated from Penn in 1953 with a B.A. in Chemistry and a commission as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy [Army equivalent: 2nd Lieutenant].
My first assignment was to USS Fremont (APA 44), an amphibious troop transport based in Norfolk, VA, where I learned enough to survive. I ended up in charge of the Fremont’s 20 or so landing craft (LCMs, LCVPs, etc.) and was a Lieutenant Jr. Grade when I left Fremont. During this period, Fremont made two 6 month deployments to Europe.
My next duty (1955-57) was as an instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. I taught chemistry to the plebes (freshmen) for two years.
Following Annapolis, I was transferred to Long Beach, CA for duty as the Executive Officer of USS Fortify (MSO 447), a wooden-hulled ocean minesweeper. Fortify deployed to the western Pacific where Japan, Hong Kong, Midway Island, Manila, Corregidor, and Taiwan were ports-of-call. I was promoted to Lieutenant in 1958 [Army equivalent: Captain].
A second assignment in Long Beach (1959-61) was as the Commanding Officer of MSB (Mine Sweeping Boat) Division 112, a group of 12 small wooden craft, each captained by a USN 1st Class or Chief Petty Officer. These boats were about 50 feet long, were driven by two powerful diesel engines, and were entirely made of non-magnetic material, including the diesels – no steel or iron allowed!
My third consecutive Long Beach assignment (1961-63) was as Gunnery and Ordnance Officer on board the WW2 destroyer USS Harry Hubbard (DD 963). Hubbard had 3 twin 5” gun mounts and 16 3” guns. Two more deployments to the western Pacific occurred, and I became a Lieutenant Commander [Army equivalent: Major] in ’63.
The Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA was my next duty, where I studied advanced chemistry and ordnance matters and graduated in 1966 with a MS in Chemistry / Ordnance. Upon departure, I was designated as “Engineering Duty” Officer, specializing in the development and testing of Navy weapons systems.
After 9 years in California, it was great to be back east for my next duty at the Navy’s Operational Testing and Development Force HQ in Norfolk, where I was involved in the testing of new Navy missile systems from 1966-70. I headed the Tarter Missile System test group from ’68 to ’70 and was promoted to Commander [Army equivalent: Lt. Colonel].
One of the most interesting events during this time was being on a plane that was high jacked to Cuba in 1968. The trip started out as a routine Eastern Airlines flight from New York to Puerto Rico, where the Navy was conducting a series of classified missile tests. No one on the flight was wise to the high jacking that was going on until we began to notice that the island beneath the plane just didn’t look right.
When we rolled to a stop in front of a sign that said “Welcome to Havana” in Spanish, we knew exactly where we were and that we could be in for some trouble.
The Cuban police hustled the high jacker off of the plane and tossed him unceremoniously into a police wagon. To my knowledge, he’s never been seen since that time.
We were told to leave most of our belongings on the plane, and then we went into the terminal for processing and interrogation. I could see that the Cubans were not searching the passengers or their briefcases. We did not wear our uniforms on such trips, so I decided to “change my identity.” To make a long story short, my American Chemical Society membership card helped convince the Cubans that I was just another civilian passenger.
We were then served a Cuban lunch (fair) and treated to Cuban cigars (good) and Cuban beer (great).
A member of the Swiss Embassy soon arrived and told us that the U.S. had authorized them to pay the large “Landing Fee” for our flight, and that an empty plane would arrive in a few hours to fly us all back to Miami. (The Cubans would collect four fat fees that way: two planes, each with a landing and takeoff)
We were back in the USA by about 6pm, and I was aboard another flight to Puerto Rico by 8pm.
As soon as I arrived in Puerto Rico, I called my boss back in Norfolk (Navy Captain Hal Castle) to tell him I had arrived safely. His response was “You’re calling me to tell me that you went where I sent you?” I replied, “Not exactly, Sir.”
In 1970, I was transferred to Navy HQ in Washington, D.C. I was assigned to the new AEGIS system project as Systems Requirements Manager. In 1974, I became the AEGIS System Engineer and in 1975, the AEGIS Weapon System Manager. In that year, I was fortunate enough to be promoted to the rank of Captain [Army equivalent: Colonel].
In 1977, I was appointed to a major shore command position, as the Ship Acquisition Program Manager in charge of the construction of the Navy’s Virginia-class (CGN 38) nuclear-powered Guided Missile Cruisers, where I served until retiring in 1981 after 28 years of active duty. During these four years, our group delivered three new CGNs to the fleet (USS Mississippi, USS Texas, USS Arkansas), rebuilt the critically damaged cruiser USS Belknap (CG 26), and brought the battleship USS New Jersey (BB 62) out of mothballs for the last time.
From 1981 to 1996, I was employed by the RCA corporation (the prime contractor from AEGIS) – and it’s successor companies – in Moorestown, NJ. I never changed my phone number as GE bought RCA in 1985, Martin-Marietta took over in 1991 and Lockheed-Martin merged in 1994. My longest and most responsible assignment at RCA-GE-MM-LM was as Program Manager for the Arleigh Burke destroyer program (DDG 51 class). I retired in 1996 as the Lockheed-Martin Vice President of Naval Systems.
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