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Navy service is family tradition for Weymouth family

The Patriot Ledger - 7/13/2018

July 13--Navy Ensign Michael Haley said his decision to serve in the military with the hope of becoming a jet pilot like his father Paul Haley, a 30-year Navy veteran, seemed like a natural step for him to take.

"My dad has been a good role model," said Haley, a Weymouth native who graduated recently from Harvard University with a degree in economics. "I had been to a few Blue Angels shows while growing up. It is hard to believe how everything worked out and it is pretty awesome and I'm pretty excited."

Haley, an ROTC or Reserve Officer Training Corp. member, was sworn in as an ensign by his father during a graduation ceremony at Harvard.

Haley's service in the Navy is part of a family tradition that includes his grandfather Robert Haley, 95, a World War II Navy veteran who deployed soldiers from a landing craft during the D-Day invasion of France while braving German gunfire.

The elder Haley received the Chevalier Legion of Honor from the French consul general during a ceremony at town hall in 2013.

Paul Haley, a former state representative, said his father wore the Legion of Honor medal while watching his grandson be sworn into the Navy.

"The final part of the ceremony is to give new officers a salute and my father saluted him first," Paul Haley said. "Michael returned the salute and presented my grandfather with a silver dollar. It was awesome."

Paul Haley said his son has always been focused on serving others while attending St. Francis Xavier School and St. Sebastian School in Needham.

"He got a service award at St. Sebastian," said Paul Haley. "He was a volunteer EMT at Harvard and he is now making a commitment to serve the nation in uniform. We are very proud of him."

Haley said his father never pressured him into joining the Navy.

"He encouraged me to look at it and I was always interested in aviation," he said. "I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn how to fly a jet. I think it is cool to build on the legacy of my dad and my grandfather and to carry it on."

Paul Haley said his family is proud of the elder Haley.

"He served in both theaters during World War II," Paul Haley said. "He was in the Normandy invasion and served in the South Pacific. We are proud of my dad. In his mind the heroes were those who did not leave the battlefield. He has always been our hero."

Paul Haley said he served seven and half years of active duty with the Navy and 23 years in the naval reserve before retiring in 2007 as a captain.

"Some of my service was at South Weymouth," Paul Haley said in reference to the former Navy base. "I remember growing up as a young boy and seeing the Blue Angles fly overhead. My father took me to see them perform once and that is what got me interested. I was a pilot and I flew F-14's on active duty and while in the reserves I flew small transport planes."

Paul Haley said Michael took on leadership roles while attending Harvard and serving the ROTC program.

"At Harvard he was captain of the club hockey team," he said. "They play other schools and he was a defenseman. He was not a bruising defenseman, but he was a slick puck handler when moving the puck up the ice."

Haley said he will begin flight training school in November at the Naval Air Station Pensacola in November.

"As of now I have a 10-year commitment to the Navy in front of me," he said. "My pilot training is two years and I owe eight years of service once I have qualified. I am focused on getting through the training and with taking advantage of the opportunities in the Navy. A few years down the road I might think of my next step. My undergraduate degree gives me a lot of flexibility."

Haley said it is a very competitive process to achieve higher officer ranks in the Navy.

"Some people get the opportunity to continue," he said.

Haley said he will learn basic survival training upon arriving at the Naval Air Station Pensacola.

"You work up to going to a private pilot school as if you were a civilian pilot learning how to fly a Cessna," he said. "Once you do that, you go to Navy ground school and learn about aircraft capabilities and then you fly military trainers which is a propeller aircraft. After that you can put in a preference for the aircraft you would like to fly which might include jets or helicopters. The Navy will assign you to what they want based on their needs, but you do get a say."

Haley said he considers himself very lucky to be pursuing his interest in the Navy.

"My grandfather and father paved the way," he said.

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