Ric HedmanBorn and raised in the state of Washington, Ric was primarily brought up in the Seattle area. After high school graduation in 1964 he enlisted in the Navy and attended boot camp and A school in San Diego, CA where he volunteered for duty in submarine. After attending Submarine School at Submarine Base New Lon-don in Groton CT in 1965, he was assigned to the pre-commissioning crew of the Thresher class submarine USS Flasher (SSN-613), under construction at General Dynamics/Electric Boat in Groton, CT. After commissioning Flasher changed homeports to Hawaii, and from there Ric deployed on numerous patrols to the northern, western and central Pacific. After slightly over four years on active du-ty, he transitioned to the Navy Reserve and was assigned to the Submarine Re-serve Unit in Seattle, where he completed his six-year military obligation. During this period, he performed temporary duty on the diesel submarine USS Cusk (SS-348), shortly before her decommissioning.His service awards include the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon, Navy Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, and the Korean Defense Service Medal. He is qualified in submarines.While in civilian life he worked in various professions, learning skills that later served him well. An avid sailor, he operated his own business performing yacht and small boat repair, and lived on and operated his own sailboat for ten years. Transitioning jobs once again, he spent 14 years in the Bio-Tech industry in the Materials Management role, taking several companies from their startup phases into Food & Drug Administration-approved production of their products. Read More Read Less