It’s probably a safe bet that John Lofstock is the only member of Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn who has spent serious time serving on submarine duty.
Lofstock had been interested in the military from a young age. While in his senior year of high school in Rockland County he made his move, joining the Navy so he could “see the world.” He was shipped off to boot camp in Orlando in September 1987, and from there to the Naval Air Station in Meridian, Mississippi. He received technical training as a “storekeeper,” and shortly after eagerly raised his hand when volunteers were needed for submarine duty. The rest, as they say, is history.
Lofstock explained that on a submarine, where the typical workday lasts for 18 hours, the job of a storekeeper was to oversee the supply of spare parts, sharing that there are anywhere from 100,000 to 250,000 such parts stored in supply lockers throughout the ship. They range in size from a dime to a small car and include backup parts for everything on the vessel. He spent over 2 ½ years on his submarine tour, including patrolling the Mediterranean and Gulf Regions during the first Gulf War.
When initially deployed, Lofstock was the youngest member of the crew. He had yet to attend college and knew nothing about the functioning of a submarine, in contrast to his crewmates, half of whom had nuclear training. They had to be, considering there was a three-story nuclear reactor on the ship! Within a year, as part of his training to receive his dolphins—the submarine warfare designation—Lofstock learned nuclear propulsion, wiring systems and a host of other technical skills, and could draw related diagrams as well. Those on the submarine were expected to perform flawlessly at all times, and if not were removed from the ship.
On August 2, 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, he was offshore in Egypt. The crew was immediately ordered to return to the ship. He served aboard the USS Providence in the U.S. Navy’s Atlantic Fleet, which was the first nuclear submarine equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles. When pressed for details, he said he wasn’t at liberty to talk about it. That was a recurring theme of the conversation. “A lot of what goes on in a sub is secret,” he said. In fact, Lofstock earned a Navy Expeditionary Medal for a classified special ops mission in the North Atlantic. He mentioned that later on he had scoured the internet for any mention of the mission, but it was as if it had never taken place. He was designated as a Veteran of Foreign Wars as a result of the covert operation and his service in the Gulf War.
Lofstock’s desire to see the world was largely met. Often at sea for months at a time, he relished the opportunity of stopping at various ports, where crew members were given time off and were free to explore. These “vacations” could last from several days up to several months, as was the case with a stopover in Italy. Other destinations he had an opportunity to visit included England, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, Egypt and the Virgin Islands. He also spent time in Haifa where he was able to attest, both from personal experience and from what others had told him, of the close working relationship and bond between the United States and Israel.
Although he was not religiously observant in any way while in the Navy, that quickly changed when he returned home to Rockland County and attended Rockland Community College. He was in the MTS honors program, which was also attended by many yeshiva students who skipped their last year of high school. The environment began to slowly rub off on him. In his second year of attendance he met Shula, a frum girl who was to become his wife. He soon began learning with Rabbi Joe Potasnik in Brooklyn, which was followed by time spent studying with Rabbi Mordechai Tendler in Monsey. After a year in Chicago when first married, Lofstock moved back east to Teaneck in 2000 where he befriended and rented an apartment from former Teaneck Mayor Elie Katz. He settled in the area, moving to Fair Lawn in 2010 with his wife and three daughters, Yaffa, Shoshana and Daniella.
For the past half-dozen years, Lofstock has been involved in the Yavneh Youth league where he regularly puts into play his passion for teaching children athletics. He is also junior vice commander of the Fair Lawn branch of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Lofstock noted with pride that he was happy to see a nice representation of people wearing kippahs and waving American Flags during the Memorial Day parade. In fact, his motivation for doing the interview was to call attention to the sacrifices made by those serving our country. As Lofstock put it, “I hope the Orthodox community appreciates the sacrifices made that allow us to speak and worship freely. Freedom is not for free.”
Robert Isler is a marketing researcher and writer who lives in Fair Lawn. He can be contacted at [email protected].
