Every month we spotlight a BCDC member to help put names and faces to who we are as a Brown alumni community. We’re delighted to introduce you this month to Doug Hackett ’61! We met Doug at our Friendsgiving event this past month, where he moved us all with his stories as a soldier and citizen.
A native of Long Island and current resident of Potomac, Doug came to Brown on a NROTC scholarship, and shared that he “could not have afforded to attend Brown otherwise.” After concentrating in International Relations, with hopes to apply to the Foreign Service or the CIA, he was drafted into the U.S. Navy and later built a career in Naval Intelligence. “My peers in the Navy remarked that at USNA they received an excellent training, whereas at Brown I received an excellent education,” he noted before quipping, “I agree.”
Doug’s work entwined with a number of historic events, such as his service on a destroyer during the Cuban Missile Crisis, two tours in Vietnam, and Intel analysis during the 1968 Pueblo crisis. Perhaps most impressively, he earned a Bronze Star, Navy Commendation Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, and a Combat Action Ribbon along the way.
Work at the Pentagon first brought him to the DC area in 1965. After several years elswehere, he returned for good in 1980, and spent 15 years in the private sector after retiring from the Navy. “My life is all spare time,” he remarks about his retirement. “I volunteer at my church, golf, ski, travel, and read (mostly Intel-related histories and biographies). I eat out frequently, and enjoy cooking at home. I also spoil my grandchildren.”
About our Friendsgiving get-together, Doug remarked that he particularly enjoyed the double takes younger alums gave upon spying the graduation year on his name tag. “I found it rewarding,” he shared, “to talk with young graduates who are just starting out on their lives and careers. The common bond is Brown.” Thank you, Doug, for your wonderful company and riveting tales!
