Larry R. Seaquist (born September 7, 1938) is an American politician, retired

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

captain, and academic who served as a member of the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

from 2007 to 2015. He ran for Pierce County executive in 2020 and lost to incumbent Republican Bruce Dammeier by ten percentage points.

Early life and education

Seaquist was born September 7, 1938, In

Idaho Falls, Idaho Idaho Falls is the fourth most populous city in Idaho and the county seat of Bonneville County. It is the state's most populous city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 64,818.2020 Cen ...

, the first of five children of Dorothy to Roger Seaquist, Seaquist lived on the family farm and attended Ammon Elementary School in

Ammon, Idaho Ammon is a suburb city in Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. As of the 2010 US Census, the population of Ammon was 13,816.Vale, Oregon Vale is a city in and the county seat of Malheur County, Oregon, United States, approximately west of the Idaho border. It is at the intersection of U.S. Routes 20 and 26, on the Malheur River at its confluence with Bully Creek. Vale was ...

. Graduating as class valedictorian from Vale High School in 1956, Seaquist attended

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

in Corvallis, Oregon, studying physics and meteorology. Seaquist dropped out of college in his junior year, working for a few months as a firefighter and ambulance driver for the Corvallis Fire Department. Seaquist later earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

in 1963.

Career

Arctic and Antarctic service

Hired by the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

, Seaquist began on his 21st birthday a year-long assignment as a weather observer at the Barter Island radar site of the

Distant Early Warning Line The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska (see List o ...

. Living beside the indigenous village of Kaktovic, Alaska, Seaquist becoming a specialist in flying twice-daily

radiosonde A radiosonde is a battery-powered telemetry instrument carried into the atmosphere usually by a weather balloon that measures various atmospheric parameters and transmits them by radio to a ground receiver. Modern radiosondes measure or calculat ...

balloon probes of the atmosphere and reporting on ice and weather conditions. He volunteered to follow that year in the Arctic with another in the Antarctic, this time as an American rep to the Argentine Antarctica deployment at Ellsworth Station where he again flew radiosondes for upper atmosphere measurements and made ices measurements as part of the global weather tracking system. That year extended to 14 months when the Argentine icebreaker, General San Martine, stuck in the ice in the Wendell Sea, was unable to resupply the station on time. Seaquist then flew on Argentina’s first flight to the South Pole, returned home via the U.S. base at McMurdo, and returned to school.

Military

Seaquist served 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 ...

from 1962 to 1994. He worked at

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

and retired after serving as the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the . He commanded the ''Iowa'' from 25 April 1986 through 26 May 1988. He was renowned on USS ''Iowa'' at choosing an enlisted crew member each day, telling them to be on the bridge at 1800 hours and have a song ready which the crew member had to create. At 1800 hours, the Captain would announce "I'd like to introduce you to today's singing boatswain mate", at which time the crew member had to sing over the ships 1MC announcement system to the entire crew. He served as a technical adviser for the 2001 film '' A Glimpse of Hell''.

Politics

In 2007, Seaquist was elected to the

, representing

Washington's 26th legislative district Washington's 26th legislative district is one of forty-nine electoral district, districts in Washington (state), Washington state for representation in the Washington State Legislature, state legislature. The district includes southeastern Kitsa ...

, which covers the

Kitsap Peninsula The Kitsap Peninsula () lies west of Seattle across Puget Sound, in Washington state in the Pacific Northwest. Hood Canal separates the peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula on its west side. The peninsula, a.k.a. "Kitsap", encompasses all of Kits ...

from

Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard ...

and

Port Orchard Port Orchard, part of Washington state's Puget Sound, is the strait that separates Bainbridge Island on the east from the Kitsap Peninsula on the west. It extends from Liberty Bay and Agate Pass in the north to Sinclair Inlet and Rich Passag ...

in the north to

Gig Harbor Gig Harbor () is the name of both a bay on Puget Sound and a city on its shore in Pierce County, Washington. The population was 12,029 at the 2020 census. Gig Harbor bills itself as "the Maritime City" and maintains a strong connection to its ...

in the south. In 2014, Seaquist lost his seat in a heated election to Michelle Caldier.

Later career

Since leaving the

, Seaquist has worked as a Political Science professor at the

Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a ...

, and speaks as an expert on national security and military issues.

References

Additional sources

External links

* Larry Seaquist in conversation with British YouTuber naval historian Drachinifel. {{DEFAULTSORT:Seaquist, Larry 1938 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Washington State Legislature Oregon State University alumni People from Idaho Falls, Idaho United States Navy officers