Vice Adm. Earl B. Fowler, 82, a retired commander of Naval Sea Systems Command and chief engineer of the Navy, died at sea Feb. 8.
Vice Adm. Fowler was on a South Atlantic cruise with his wife, Helen, celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, when he had a heart attack aboard the Seven Seas Mariner between Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. He died aboard ship.
Former secretary of the Navy John Lehman, in his book "Command of the Seas: Building the 600 Ship Navy" (1988), described Vice Adm. Fowler as one of the "blue suiter superstars" in the mission to build up the Navy. He was, in Lehman's words, "a sailor who built ships."
Vice Adm. Fowler was responsible for designing, developing and procuring all Navy ships and shipboard weapons systems (including the Aegis ship-based missile used to shoot down an out-of-control spy satellite this week). His oversight duties included private shipbuilding and repair, eight Navy shipyards, all weapons stations and the Navy procurement office.
During his tenure as commander of Naval Sea Systems Command -- March 1980 to June 1985 -- he was responsible for an organization of 110,000 and an annual budget of $20 billion.
Edward F. Bronson, a retired Navy captain, recalled Mr. Fowler as "so personally knowledgeable of the programs" and, at the same time, "just one of those easygoing guys."
Karen O'Meara-Byers, who worked for Vice Adm. Fowler as a young clerk-typist in the early 1980s, remembered him as kind and gentle, even when she put a caller who identified himself as "Cap" Weinberger on hold, following instructions not to put captains and below straight through to the admiral. She was unaware that Caspar Weinberger was defense secretary.
"He wasn't a 'ring-knocker,' " O'Meara-Byers said, using a common term for arrogant officers (derived from those who flaunt their Naval Academy graduation rings). "If you met him, you wouldn't know he was a three-star admiral," she said.
He could be firm. In 1985, he charged General Dynamics Corp. with a "blatant disregard for a breach of security regulations" after the unauthorized release of 19 highly sensitive photographs of the Trident ballistic-missile submarine.
Vice Adm. Fowler informed the company that the Navy was conducting a "thorough investigation into the creation of these documents and their release." He added that he would take "appropriate action" after the investigation was completed.
Earl Bealle Fowler was born in Jacksonville, Fla. He received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech University in 1946 and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1949. He also attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University in 1970.
Enlisting in the Navy in 1943, he served at Point Mugu, Calif.; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and in San Francisco and Charleston, S.C. He served aboard the destroyer Leary, the aircraft carriers Wright and Ranger and the submarine Columbia.
From 1960 to 1962, he supervised materiel and engineering assistance to the Republic of China and from 1967 to 1971 was responsible for constructing ships to support the Apollo program and oceanographic research, as well as survey ships, minesweepers and hydrofoils.
From 1976 to 1980, he was commander of Naval Electronics Systems Command, based in Arlington County, where his purview included communications, radar, surveillance and space systems.
After his 1985 retirement, Vice Adm. Fowler served as director of several companies and as a consultant to others. He also was chief executive of several companies, including Health Net in California and FPBSM Industries, an electromagnetic components manufacturing firm. He was the founder and owner of the Arlington-based Fowler International Group, a consulting firm. A former resident of Alexandria, he moved to Sarasota, Fla., in 1993.
Vice Adm. Fowler's awards included the Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Merit. He was a member of the Navy League, the Military Officers Association, the Cosmos Club, the Army Navy Country Club and Sons of the American Revolution.
Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Helen J. Fowler of Sarasota; and two daughters, Mary H. Fowler and Joan A. Fowler, both of Alexandria.
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