Gerald W. Clusen is a retired

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Biography

A native of

Manitowoc, Wisconsin Manitowoc ( ) is a city in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2020 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,626. History Purporte ...

, Clusen graduated from the

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

with a B.S. in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

with a minor in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

. In civilian life, Clusen worked for

Kimberly-Clark Kimberly-Clark Corporation is an American multinational consumer goods and personal care corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products. The company manufactures sanitary paper products and surgical & medical instruments. Kimb ...

for more than 28 years.

Career

Clusen originally enlisted in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

in 1971. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, he served aboard the . Following the war, he served aboard the and the . Commissioned as an officer in 1983, he was assigned to the

Naval Security Group The Naval Security Group (NAVSECGRU) was an organization within the United States Navy, tasked with intelligence gathering and denial of intelligence to adversaries. A large part of this is signals intelligence gathering, cryptology and informatio ...

. In October 2010, he was named Reserve Deputy Commander of the

United States Tenth Fleet The U.S. Tenth Fleet is a functional formation and a numbered fleet in the United States Navy. It was first created as a global anti-submarine warfare coordinating organization under the singular authority of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet ...

. Awards he has received include the

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: Singapore *Pingat Jasa Gemilang, or Meritorious Services Me ...

with

award star A inch star (9.7mm) is a miniature gold or silver five-pointed star that is authorized by the United States Armed Forces as a ribbon device to denote subsequent awards for specific decorations of the Department of the Navy, Coast Guard, Public H ...

, the

Navy Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...

, and the

Navy Achievement Medal The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize outstanding achievement or meritorious service of military personnel who were not eligible to rece ...

with two award stars.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clusen, Gerald W. Living people People from Manitowoc, Wisconsin Military personnel from Wisconsin United States Navy rear admirals United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War University of Wisconsin–La Crosse alumni Year of birth missing (living people)