Elton Council Parker Jr.

On Tuesday, June 22, 2021, CAPT Elton C. “Buddy” Parker, Jr, USN (ret), loving husband, father of two children, and grandfather of two children, got his final “Signal CHARLIE” call from the Air Boss, and passed away in McLean, VA, at the age of 87.

Buddy was born in Louisville, KY, and as the son of a Naval Aviator, moved all over the country while growing up, attending 4 different elementary schools and 3 different high schools, including ones in Norfolk, VA, Atlanta, GA, and the Marion Military Institute in Marion, AL. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD with a B.S. in Naval Science and Electrical Engineering in 1955, and was designated a Naval Aviator in 1956. He received his M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, and Princeton University in Princeton, NJ, specializing in Flight Performance Testing in 1964.

A consummate professional and career aviator who loved every…single…aspect…of flying, Buddy accumulated more than 6400 total pilot hours in 46 different types of aircraft, 700 carrier landings spread across 11 different aircraft carriers, and 100 combat missions in North Vietnam, where he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. He began his flying career immediately after earning his wings by becoming a SERGRAD—Selectively Retained Graduate—serving as a Flight Instructor for the next several classes of student naval aviators at NAS Pensacola, FL. His last deployable operational flying tour was as Commanding Officer of an electronic attack squadron home-stationed aboard NAS Whidbey Island, WA.

He was also a Life Member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP), having spent multiple tours as a special project test pilot and project officer, and eventually Chief Projects Director. In this capacity, he was responsible for all U.S. Navy aircraft air-to-ground weapons, delivery systems, and electronic counter measures developmental and operational tests; not limited to U.S. Navy-related testing and evaluation, Buddy also served as human centrifuge evaluator for side-controller astronaut flight control system development, as well as commercial airline flight crew restraint systems and flight instrument vibration damping evaluations.

In subsequent non-operational tours, Buddy served on the staff of the then-Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet as the Electronic Warfare Readiness Officer, the Nuclear Warfare Readiness Officer, and the Assistant Chief of Operations. His command ashore billet was as the Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Station in Meridian, MS. His last tour on Active Duty was as the Head of the Theater Nuclear Warfare Branch on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in the Pentagon in Washington, DC.

His service to his country continued long after his retirement from 30 years of Active Duty in 1985, as Buddy worked as a systems engineer for Boeing Aerospace, and then as an individual consultant across a number of private sector aerospace and defense firms, serving as a critical liaison to the Department of Defense and the Office of the Chief of Naval of Operations directorates.

He spent the last several years in increasingly senior positions within the National Defense Industrial Association, helping drive strategic dialogue in national security by identifying key issues and leveraging his personal knowledge and experience of military, government, industry, and academic perspectives to address them; in so doing, he ended his lifelong service to the Nation the same way he started it: focusing on enabling the next generation of warfighters to be the best prepared and equipped to protect and advance the national security and defense needs of the Nation and ensure the safety and security of her citizens.

But before, during, and after his life of service to the Nation, Buddy was a skilled athlete and unfailingly dedicated husband, father, and grandfather. Though education and aviation were his subject passions, if you asked Buddy, he would say his greatest accomplishment wasn’t his squash prowess, or even his career—it was being a husband and a father. Buddy is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Susan; his brother Malcolm and wife Far; his son, Elton III and wife Jessie; and his daughter, Laura and husband Pete, and grandchildren Paige and Jack. There will be a memorial service at Fort Myer Chapel on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, at 10:45 am, with interment at Arlington National Cemetery immediately following.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Naval Academy Athletic Association in his name, specifying Navy Squash. Here are ways to donate:

1. Online—go to the Alumni Association’s website http://www.usna.com and click DONATE NOW on the homepage. Select OTHER from the pulldown menu for I would like my gift to go to, and type Squash Programs

2. Write a check—put "Squash Programs—IMO CAPT Buddy Parker" in the memo, and mail it to:

USNA Foundation

Attn: Rusty Yeiser

274 Wood Road

Annapolis Maryland 21402.

"Lord, guard and guide the ones who fly

Through the great spaces in the sky.

Be with them always in the air,

In darkening storms or sunlight fair."

-Eternal Father, Strong to Save [Navy Hymn]

Beat Army!