Biography for Hugh C. Keith
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I was born in 1968 in Ft.
Clayton, Panama in what is historically known as 'the canal zone'. At the ripe
age of 5 years old, my father who worked for the Defense Mapping Agency,
accepted an assignment to work in Ecuador with the Inter-American Geodetic
Survey (IAGS) project, our new home would be in South America; Quito, the
capital of the nation of Ecuador,
to be exact. Quito is located at roughly 9,900 feet above sea level, directly
in the middle of a valley in part of the Andean volcanic mountain range that
stretches the length of South America from North to South. My family lived in Ecuador for
approximately nine years; my mother and I departed Ecuador to return stateside
exactly nine years to the day of our arrival, while my father stayed in Ecuador
for a few more months to complete his assignment with the IAGS project.
I was fortunate to have
attended two fine private English speaking college-prep K-12 schools in Quito.
I began and finished at Cotopaxi International Academy and enjoyed
approximately two years at Alliance Academy across town. Both campuses have
changed throughout the years. Alliance Academy has done some demolition and
construction work on their campus, while Cotopaxi Academy has built and moved
into an entirely new facility in another part of Quito. My mother was quite
fond of foggy weather, and Quito definitely has the market cornered on the best
foggy weather in the world. I am reminded of both my Mom's fondness and the
experience of 'living in a cotton ball' every time I see a bank of fog rolling
along. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior on June 24, 1979 and was
then baptized the next month on July 1, 1979 by Pastor Doy Jones at First
Baptist Church, Quito, Ecuador.
Then, the inevitable day
came when the engines on the jet roared, the plane leapt into motion down the
runway and climbed into the sky on its mission. The lump in my throat and the
tears in my eyes were signs to me as a teenager that I was witnessing my
childhood coming to an end; and perhaps for the very first time experiencing
true loneliness as a young adult. I now truly appreciate the lyrics of a song
penned by Neil Peart of the band RUSH, which simply state in part "time
stand still"... it did. I remember to this day vividly how distinct the
view out the window of that plane was; the fields below and each uniquely
shaped cloud in the Andean sky, and all my childhood friends. Of course that is
what makes memories great, my childhood friends haven't aged a day! Ninth grade
would be experienced in a new place, the United States of America, in the small
college town of Chico, California. While my childhood in South America was
definitely a unique one, I have many, many fond memories of it and look forward
to being able to return to visit Ecuador some day. I completed high school in
the Chico Unified School District graduating early in January of 1987 after
completing my academic requirements for the senior class at Chico Senior High
School in Chico, California. Prior
to graduating I had enlisted in the United States
Navy to become a Religious Program Specialist (RP) under the Delayed Entry
Program...
... and this is where we pick up our story.
Religious Program Specialist (RP)
United States Navy
June 26, 1987 - July 25, 1993
Received Honorable Discharge As Religious Program Specialist Petty Officer Third Class (RP3)
Medals And Ribbons Awarded
[From left to right, top to bottom:]
Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon,
Battle "E" Ribbon, Navy Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service
Medal,
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal (with 2 stars),
Humanitarian Service Medal,
Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (with 1 star), Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi
Arabia), Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
November 14, 1987 - July 10, 1991
USS Kiska (AE 35)
I served under two
different Command Chaplains while I was assigned to USS KISKA (AE 35) as a
Religious Program Specialist. As the Religious Program Specialist assigned, I supported
the Command Chaplain by performing all administrative requirements and office
functions, enhancing his ability to freely minister to the religious needs of
the crew. I performed the rigging/de-rigging of all Divine Services, including
advising and coordinating transportation requirements for receiving visiting
Clergy for Catholic Divine services while deployed overseas.
Assisted by the crew, we conducted the total refurbishment
of the Ship's Library/Crew's Lounge and Office of the Chaplain. The newly
refurbished space meant implementing and maintained library procedures, keeping
the planning schedule for use of the multi-purpose Crew's Lounge for formal
training, crew relaxation and Divine Worship services. During Desert
Shield and Desert Storm, I also coordinated, maintained and performed the
duties of the Command Journalist in providing current audio-visual
entertainment for the crew; including assisting in the preparation of various
media news releases as well as coordination and completion of the ship's
deployment cruise book. It was the thrill of a lifetime to have been the ship's
photographer on many different occasions, providing me the opportunity to
capture the photographic/video tape coverage of significant events such
re-enlistments, burial at sea ceremonies; as well as historic places such as
photographing during a fly over Iwo Jima Island and a visit to Wake Island.
Collateral duties are a part of life at sea. Many long
hours were spent standing on the bridge wings during endless underway
replenishments (UNREP's) and vertical replenishments (VERTREP's) to our fleet
customers alongside, performing sound powered telephone talker duties for both
evolutions. Being the Commanding Officer's sound powered telephone talker
during General Quarters and Condition 3 wartime steaming involved the relaying
of direct verbal orders from the Commanding Officer to gun mounts and damage
control stations throughout the ship. Also, as the Captain's Tactical Movement
Board plotter for General Quarters I was involved plotting the exact location
and direction of all moving radar targets and vessels reported to me by the
Combat Information Center on a white grease pencil chart.
Training and qualification in the safe and proper operation
of the .45 caliber pistol, M-14 rifle and various shotguns while on board made
me eligible to stand armed roving patrol watches as a member of the physical
security watch team both in port and underway... oh, the joy. As you can guess,
I did my fair share of the rotating 4 hour watchstanding in port and underway.
During condition 3 wartime steaming during Desert Shield and Desert Storm it
was double watches - 8 hours a day - and only qualified members of the
shipboard security force were allowed to stand those watches. (Super!)
July 10, 1991 - July 25, 1993
Naval Air Station Alameda
Alameda, California
At NAS Alameda I was
assigned the position of Chapel Manager. My duties included implementing,
coordinating and performing all necessary duties to ensure the proper
cleanliness, maintenance and general upkeep of the Naval Air Station Alameda
Main Chapel and Blessed Sacrament Chapel, including Shannon Hall and the
surrounding grounds. As our departments Safety Petty Officer, I
participated in bi-monthly NAVOSH Safety Council meetings and conducted the
Chaplain's Office Safety training and maintained the staff safety training
records.
For two years I actively participated in the coordination
and organization of the Angel Tree Program, which was a charity gift-giving
program sponsored by the Naval Air Station Alameda Chapel community for
underprivileged families and children of four non-profit organizations during
the Christmas season.
One of the highlights of my shore duty tour was being
temporarily assigned to Naval Weapons Station Concord, California for three
weeks to assist in the preparations for the re-dedication of the beautiful Port
Chicago Memorial Chapel. This little chapel has a large stained glass window
memorial honoring those who perished during the Port Chicago explosion. The
chapel with its stained glass window is a 'must see' if you are ever in the San
Francisco bay area.
Other temporary assignments took me to Commander,
Logistics Group ONE, on two separate occasions for a total of ten weeks. During
my assignments I provided administrative support and coordination of various
activities for the Command Religious Programs of fourteen naval vessels
assigned to Commander, Logistics Group ONE. This included the task of
organizing travel arrangements for two groups of civilian dependents from San
Francisco to Hawaii for dependents' cruises with vessels returning from
extended overseas deployments.
Since my time of
service in the U.S. Navy I have had the privilege of working at several
companies in the community.
|
July 26, 1993 - April 25,
1994 |
PERIOD OF UNEMPLOYMENT
(Bummer!) |
May 1994 - July 1995 |
|
August 1995 - July 1998 |
September 1999 - January
2001 |
November 2006 –
Present Senior District
Administrator July 2002 – October
2006 |
On September 25, 1997 I
received my ordination as a Christian minister and founded Introspicere
Ministries. Introspicere is the Latin root word for the English word we know today
as introspection. I gave the ministry that name because I sincerely believe
that people who honestly and intently take time to search through Gods word in
the Bible, and also then take the time to sincerely ponder its truths in their
heart simply cannot deny the existence of the Creator of the universe.
Introspicere as a ministry was born in response to two questions I spent much
of my time pondering while wandering the ship on watch for 8 hours a day in the
middle of the Persian Gulf on an ammunition ship during my nine month
deployment to Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
Those two questions were:
1.) Pertaining to Christian ministry - who
ministers to the ministers?
- and -
2.) Pertaining to my life - if I survive this
wartime experience, how will I live my life differently in the future?
The answer I found
most often to the first question was, more often than not is - NO ONE. Shocked?
Me too. So if no one is ministering to the ministers, why not me? So here I am.
The answer to the second question is deeper than most parts of the ocean and
words seem inadequate to answer it most of the time. When God gives you a
'do-over', or another chance to get something right, what do you do? I'm here
to tell you that I've been given that 'do-over' and I'm doing all I can with my
life to live up to the private resolutions I arrived at in pondering and
answering that second question many years ago. I'm not a theologian and I'm not
a Biblical scholar, I'm not many things and God is all right with that; he knows
that I have a Bible and that I'm not afraid to read it, learn it, and teach it.
I simply hope to share the joy and blessings that have been given to me, and
simply make myself available to others along this Christian pilgrimage called
faith.
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