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Philip F. Duffy was born and raised in Hadley, MA, the 3rd son of John and Catherine Rehill Duffy of Co. Cavan Ireland. He attended local schools and graduated from Hopkins Academy, in 1956 Philip attended Providence College and earned his BA in 1960. His lifelong dream to fly was fulfilled by the US Navy at Pensacola and he reported to his first squadron at Quonset, RI. During that tour he earned his green instrument flight card and was part of two Mercury 7 astronaut recoveries. A tour as a flight instructor at Ellyson Field followed where he was chosen to train 2 of the astronauts for landing on the moon. After that tour it was off to Viet Nam on the USS Princeton until the ship was decommissioned a year later. A second tour to Viet Nam followed immediately as the OinC of the rescue det. on USS America. Returning to Lakehurst, NJ he became Ops Boss and directed and trained the squadron in the H-3 Sea King. His selection to the US Army Command and Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth followed. During that tour he was notified of his early selection to command. After graduation he reported to NPS Monterey were his MA dissertation on the development and use of the Soviet aircraft carrier became the bellwether of USN analysis of future wars. He then reported to HC-3 as XO and served for a year before becoming the CO in 1975. He was then the youngest CO of all Navy squadrons and HC-3 was the largest of all Navy squadrons. It was during that tour that he was responsible for developing and instituting HC-11 from part of HC-3. At his change of command the two squadrons were separated. Philip then spent most of a year attached to the Amphibious Group staff, then to the Air Boss job on USS New Orleans (LPH-11), a fun tour where the ship made a Westpac. He then took command of all the Naval Reserve Squadrons as Wing Commander. He was then selected early for Captain and command and was off to Senior Officer Engineering School for most of a year at Idaho Falls. Command of his old friends in USS New Orleans followed. And after a full tour there he took command of USS Tarawa (LHA-1} off the coast of Lebanon. Upon of the ship to San Diego it underwent a major engineering period followed by another Westpac tour. Then it was off to the Pentagon as Deputy for Space Operations for CNO. It was during that tour he was chosen for Flag Officer. His initial assignment was Commander US Naval Forces Central Command, with headquarters in Pearl Harbor. That tour took nearly 3 years and saw the development of that command into a fully supported element of US Central Command. Upon leaving that assignment Rear Admiral Duffy was assigned as the Commander of Training Command for Atlantic Fleet. Philip retired from that position after 31 years of service to the country and US Navy. He and his wife of 57 years Carole Zak Duffy, live in Williamsburg, VA. |
