Richard A. Bauman, RADM, USCG (RET)
Deck Dept

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RADM Richard A. Bauman, USCG, Retired, died February 15, 2005, at the age of 80. Admiral Bauman was born August 16, 1924, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and graduated from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 1944. Following graduation he sailed as a licensed deck officer in the U.S. Merchant Marine with wartime service in various Atlantic and Mediterranean convoys, and participated in the invasion of Normandy aboard the Liberty ship STEVEN C. FOSTER at Omaha Beach. After World War II, Admiral Bauman remained in the merchant marine until 1957, holding an unlimited master's license and a first class pilot license for the waters from Massachusetts to Virginia.

He received his commission as lieutenant in the United States Coast Guard in 1957. His early assignments included Operations Officer on CGC CASCO (WHEC 370), Boston, Massachusetts; Marine Inspector in Portsmouth, Virginia and Savannah, Georgia; and Executive Officer on CGC CHINCOTEAGUE (WHEC 375), Norfolk, Virginia.

Admiral Bauman graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1967. Upon graduation he reported for duty in the Republic of Vietnam, first as Chief Staff Officer of Squadron One and then as Division Commander of Division Twelve, where he commanded thirteen 82-foot patrol boats and two Navy Swift boats engaged in anti-infiltration duties. On February 29, 1968, patrol boats under his command intercepted an enemy trawler laden with arms and ammunition at Cape Mia. The enemy blew up the trawler to avoid capture. During this tour he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V, the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Gold Star, and the Bronze Star with Combat V.

Admiral Bauman returned to Norfolk in 1968 to serve as liaison officer to Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet. He commanded CGC INGHAM (WHEC 35) from February 1971 to May 1973, followed by a one-year tour ashore as Chief, Information Systems Division at Coast Guard Headquarters. In 1975 he graduated from the National War College and returned to Headquarters as Chief, Port Safety and Law Division. From 1978 to 1980 he was Chief of Operations in the Ninth Coast Guard District. He was promoted to Rear Admiral on July 1, 1980, and became the first Chief of the newly formed Office of Navigation. In June 1983 he assumed command of the First Coast Guard District. Admiral Bauman retired on June 30, 1985. Admiral Bauman held an honorary doctorate in public administration from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

After his retirement, Admiral Bauman joined the Liberty Ship Project in New York and became an avid volunteer when the SS JOHN W. BROWN came to Baltimore in 1988. He helped the ship in many ways, notably when he obtained on permanent loan most of the ship's guns from an arms depot in Indiana, earning him the nickname of "Guns" Bauman. But he maintained that his major contribution to the ship was his son, Rick, who has been the chief mate of the BROWN since 1988. Among his other interests, Admiral Bauman, as a noted lighthouse expert and historian, climbed 680 of the 740 lighthouses in the United States.

He married the love of his life, Dorothy (Dottie) Schmalz Bauman in 1948; she died in 1998. They had four children and three grandchildren; he is also survived by two brothers and a sister. Admiral Bauman always said that he wanted to be married for 50 years, command a large Coast Guard cutter, and become an admiral; he got all his wishes. As he once wrote, "Few people get to do exactly what they want to do in life, and I am one of the most fortunate of these few." Admiral Bauman was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.