Remembering Captain Don C. East, USN, (Ret.) (Cryptologist)

A native of Clevelands Cross Roads, Alabama, Captain Don C. East enlisted in the United States Navy in 1957. Following boot camp, he attended Cryptographic Technician “R” and “T” Branch training at Imperial Beach and March AFB, California. He then served operational tours at Karamursel, Turkey and Bremerhaven, Germany.

During these tours, he participated in operations involving the support of VQ-2 missions in the Black and Baltic Seas. After attending the one-year Cryptographic Supervisors Course at the National Security Agency, he was then assigned as an instructor in the “T” Branch Curriculum at the Cryptologic Training Center Corry Field, in Pensacola, Florida. While at Corry Field, he attended night classes at Pensacola Junior College in the Russian language program. At the end of that assignment in 1965, and while awaiting the results of the CPO and Warrant Officer examinations, he was selected for Naval Flight Officer training.