OFFICIAL RETIREMENT NOTICE — UNCLASSIFIED
United States Navy Retirement Ceremony
Eric Bernsen
"Slick"
CAPTAIN, USN · O-6
27 Years of Mostly Controlled Flight
Save The Date
August 8
2026
Retirement Ceremony · United States Navy
Captain Eric "Slick" Bernsen, USN
Captain Eric "Slick" Bernsen, USN
Venue and full details to follow once the appropriate paperwork clears — which, after 27 years, he has more than earned the right to let someone else file. Ceremony details and RSVP are forthcoming.
Mark it. Show up. Bring sea stories.
If you're going to be stupid, be smart about it.
— Tom Slick, Seahawk Driver · Life Philosophy · Official Flight Brief Addendum
Service Record
By The Numbers
Years of Service27
USNA Class of1999
Final GradeO-6
Command Tours3
Deployments3
Law Degrees1
Helicopters Returned IntactMost
Aircraft Flown
The Fleet
T-34C Turbo Mentor · Orange and White
TH-57B/C Sea Ranger · "Down, right, idle, turn…"
SH-60B Seahawk · Where it started
HH-60H Rescue Hawk · Not a drill
MH-60R Romeo · The upgrade
MH-60S Sierra · The utility workhorse
Operational History
Deployments
2002
North Arabian Gulf
HSL-42 · Ensuring freedom of navigation and finding creative ways to stay cool in 120°F heat.
HSL-42 · Ensuring freedom of navigation and finding creative ways to stay cool in 120°F heat.
2003–04
Eastern Pacific
HSL-42 · Counter-narcotics ops. Technically a drug task force. Conveniently tropical.
HSL-42 · Counter-narcotics ops. Technically a drug task force. Conveniently tropical.
2023–24
Djibouti, Horn of Africa
Director, Camp Titan · Recalled from reserves — A helicopter pilot running a Special Operations camp in the Horn of Africa. The Navy had its reasons. They remain unexplained.
Director, Camp Titan · Recalled from reserves — A helicopter pilot running a Special Operations camp in the Horn of Africa. The Navy had its reasons. They remain unexplained.
Career Highlights
The Résumé
- United States Naval Academy, Class of 1999
- Tactics Instructor, HSM Weapons School Pacific · Flight Instructor, HSL-41 — simultaneously responsible for teaching Naval aviators both how to fly and what to shoot.
- MH-60S Utility Pilot, SCORE Detachment · HSC-85, HSC-21, HSC-3 (2009–2019) · flew reserve helos throughout, including during law school (2009–2012) — passed the bar in 2012 while still in the cockpit
- Commanding Officer, HSC-3 SAU (2017–2019) · Commanding Officer, NR VTC-12 (2019–2022)
- Recalled to active duty · Director, Camp Titan, Djibouti (2023–2024) — ran a Special Operations camp in the Horn of Africa with his CO in Stuttgart. A 5,000-mile chain of command that suited everyone just fine.
Candid Assessment · Eyes Only
What They Won't Put In The Citation
- Mastered four variants of the Seahawk across a 27-year career spanning active duty, the reserves, three deployments, and one recalled-from-the-reserves surprise
- Served as a tactics and flight instructor across his career and somehow found time to pass the bar, build a patent law practice, and then come back as flight instructor and reserve augment unit CO at HSC-3, all at the same time. The law firm presumably asked fewer questions than the Navy.
- Three command tours. The call sign is a philosophy that doubles as legal advice — "If you're going to be stupid, be smart about it."
- 27 years. Three deployments. Four airframes. Three command tours. One law degree. Now legally — in every sense of the word — someone else's problem.