Decades Of Duty: Navy Chief James Kemp Recognized For Service And Integrity

Beaumont, CA — From their time in uniform to their everyday contributions in our neighborhoods, veterans embody service in so many forms. Patch and T-Mobile have teamed up to share stories of veterans making a difference in the places we call home.

This story was submitted by Johanne Kemp, who nominated EMC(SW) James R. Kemp of the U.S. Navy, from Beaumont. To share your own message of gratitude, click here to answer a few questions and we'll take it from there.

Tell us about the veteran's service.

Chief Kemp entered the Navy in October 1974. He enlisted in the Navy's Nuclear Power Program and completed all his schooling in September 1976. He made the rank of second-class petty officer, Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class.

The first command he was assigned to was the Precom (building of the ship), the USS Texas CGN-39. After commissioning in September 1977, he worked in E-Division performing general maintenance and doing repairs when items failed (electrical in nature); he repaired such items.

His next command was the USS Sperry AS-12, a submarine repair ship originally built in 1942. He made E-6 while spending most of the time in 12-hour shifts doing repairs on the nuclear systems. He was the only electrician in the radiological controls division.

In 1981, he went to the USS Mississippi CGN-40 and, while again performing electrical repairs, maintenance, and operating the electrical systems required to give the ship electricity, the ship was awarded the honor of being recognized as the number one ship in the Navy. He was in charge this time of the electricians in both engine rooms as well as the IC shop.

From here, he went to the USS Acadia AD-42 and worked on writing the procedures and supervising the workers who followed the written procedure to do work on surface ships. The Navy realized he had not gone to shore duty (normally after two shipboard tours) and cut short his tour on the Acadia AD-42 by a couple of months. They first sent him to Drug and Alcohol Rehab Counselor School, and later he went to SIMA (Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity), repairing all types of U.S. Navy surface ships.

During this time, a freak accident led to him landing on his head and damaging his spine. The damage was found while working for ComNavSurfPac, where he worked for a few months, and then returned to SIMA, working in the electrical division and no longer in the Nuclear Navy.

As the first Gulf War was nearing, he was again stationed on the USS Acadia AD-42 and left for the Persian Gulf in September 1990. He worked in the QA division and eventually became the QA officer.

He returned to shore duty in early 1994 and retired in October 1994.

Since retiring, he completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in computer programming and became a professor teaching programming, network security, MS Office, and Oracle database programming. He volunteered as a Little League and Pony League baseball coach and manager for 10 years.

How do you know the veteran?

He's my father.

What makes the veteran someone your community should know about?

He attends church regularly, helps our neighbors regularly, and sets a great example of character and honesty.

What three words best describe the veteran?

Honest, Family-man, Smart

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