James Ervin Triplett Iii

BMCM(SW) James Ervin Triplett was born in Washington D.C., the son of WWII decorated Naval veteran James E. Triplett Jr. and the former Dorothy A. Hurst from Virginia. He was the first born of five siblings: Pamela Weiler, Marc Triplett, Charles Triplett, and Margaret White.

He married his wife Bonnie Randolph, from Maryland, on 7 February 1967. They have five children: Tia, Bonnie, Dorothy, Kelly, and James.

BMCM(SW) Triplett joined the Navy on 21st of September 1960. He attended Boot Camp at RTC, Great Lakes, Illinois. Upon completion of boot camp, he went to the USS Coral Sea as a deck seaman. He then went to Naval Station Guam as a criminal investigator for the Armed Forces Police Detachment. He joined the staff of Naval Special Warfare Group Pacific and subsequently became an operator of Naval Special Warfare Group, Seal Team 1 Fire Team Gulf Based at Coronado, California. Master Chief Triplett then served as Air Security Specialist and a United States Deputy Federal Marshall with the task of prevention of international air piracy assigned outside of the Naval Air Facility, Washington D. C. and operated from the John F. Kennedy Airport, New York. He became the leading petty officer of 1st Division on board the USS Wabash and went on to become the Ships Bos’n of USS Ajax. He then went to Naval Station San Diego, California as Craftmaster on board harbor tug 405, yard oilers 88 and 202. He was then transferred to Naval Undersea Warfare Engineering Station Keyport, Washington s Craftmaster on the Weapons Research and Deep Recovery vessel 520 and 451. Master Chief Triplett then became a department head and senior instructor for nonconventional boat operations basic underwater Seal team training at Naval Amphibious School, Coronado, California. He checked on board USS Sphinx as the Command Master Chief and Security Officer.

As Command Master Chief of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, BMCM(SW Triplett says “During my tenure at the Shipyard, I have seen the military role grow from a relatively obscure housekeeping mission to that of dynamic leadership, setting the pace for not only for Naval Sea Systems Command and Pacific Northwest, but also for the entire West Coast. Time and again various type Commanders and their representatives come to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to see ‘how it’s done.’ This can be accredited to one thing, people, people at all levels of the chain of command working as a single unit. It has been my pleasure to be a part of this unit and reap the rewards of accomplishment with you.”