I was stationed with Paul at ACU 4 in the 90’s as part of his maintenance crew for LCAC’s. He was a stickler for having things done right and wanted his craft to be the best on the “ramp”. It usually was because he hounded us so much to make sure of that. Paul’s uniform and appearance was always impeccable. When he spoke it was always direct and to the point. You never wondered what Paul was trying to say. At that time Paul was a senior Chief but I had no doubt that he was going to make a fine Master Chief. He just had that natural leadership ability. I retired from the Navy in 2006 and have been employed by a couple of different companies before I came to work at BAE systems in Norfolk. I actually saw Paul for the first time in the parking lot one morning and we stopped and talked for a bit. He called me Dave. Lol. You know the whole Navy thing, you run down the places you have been stationed and figure out where you were stationed together. I remembered exactly where I knew him from though because Paul was a respected figure at ACU 4. We didn’t always see eye to eye on things and I’m sure he got what he was asking for on his “boat”, but I did respect Paul and his position. While I was not that close to Paul I know that when he was out of uniform or here at BAE he was fun to be around. He was a guy’s, guy. He was just easy to talk to and he seemed like he would give you the shirt off of his back. Paul was a fine man and a great shipmate. He will be sorely missed. Mark S. Wright