Kansas Navy veteran who repaired electronic aircraft components spent 15 years in service

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW – One Kansas veteran says he followed in his dad’s footsteps by enlisting in the United States Navy just days after graduating high school.

Richard Humburg joined the Navy in 1997, spending 15 years in the service while making several trips to the Middle East. He says he enjoyed his time as a sailor from the moment he joined.

From a young age, Humburg knew he wanted to be a Navy sailor.

“Throughout high school, growing up, I always wanted to be in the military. My dad was in the military, was in the Navy, I had an uncle and a cousin in the Navy,” he said.

Three days after graduating high school, he enlisted, attending boot camp in Chicago and aviation electronic technician training in Florida.

He deployed shortly after on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, where his main role was repairing the electronic components of aircraft, including the F/A-18.

“I did enjoy doing that all the time; I excelled on a couple of different pieces of equipment; that was my forte, troubleshooting that, and getting those back ready for issue, so they could put it back in the aircraft, so the aircraft could fly,” said Humburg.

He spent time on several other ships, including the USS George Washington and USS Enterprise, before returning to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower at the end of his time in the service.

Humburg served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“I enjoyed it, the structure of being out to sea, and learning, and going to the different ports, being in the middle east and the persian gulf, it went by quick, now looking back, I wish it went a little bit slower,” he said.

By the time of retirement, he was the leading petty officer in his division responsible for training junior sailors in over a dozen different shops.

Humburg says his plan was to spend more time in the Navy and says adapting to life back home was hard.

“I was caught in a reduction of manning in 2012, but I was lucky enough to have 15 years of service, to retire from the navy, so I did have a low point, from getting out of the Navy during the transition,” he said.

Humburg has continued his passion for working on electronics at an energy company while spending more time with his kids. He says his experience in the Navy made him who he is today.

“My time in the navy was great; I loved it; I think everyone should join a branch for at least four years to kind of widen their experience,” he said.

Humburg now has three kids and one grandchild. He said he hopes to see some of them continue their family legacy of Navy service one day.

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