Accomplished Navy man from Carmel Valley to retire

Captain Donald S. Muehlbach Jr., Ph.D., a longtime Carmel Valley resident, will retire on Nov. 30, 2010 with over 41 years of military service in the United States Navy.

Capt. Muehlbach’s decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Navy Commendation Medal (two awards), Navy Achievement Medal (two awards), Navy Good Conduct Medal (three awards), and the National Defense Medal (three awards).

He enlisted right out of high school in July 1969, and entered the Advanced Electronics Field.

After a year of military electronics training, he served from 1970 - 1977 as a Sonar Technician on the USS Damato (DD-871), USS Dahlgren (DLG-12) and USS Bainbridge (CGN-25). During his shore tour he also completed his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in engineering by using his GI Bill benefits, and was the “Shore Sailor of the Year” in 1979. In 1982 he was honorably discharged after nearly 13 years of enlisted Active Duty.

Capt. Muehlbach then immediately began his Reserve Officer career as a Direct Commission Ensign in the Engineering Duty Officer (EDO) Program. Highlights of his Reserve Duty include five Commanding Officer (CO) tours.

Capt. Muehlbach and his wife, Jennifer, have lived in the Carmel Valley area for nearly 25 years. Their son Trey and daughter Molly both attended Solana Highlands Elementary and both graduated from Torrey Pines High School.

Capt. Muehlbach’s current civilian occupation is Professor of Systems Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering and Science, Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). He has also served (2003-2009) as the Director of Technology Programs for the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Extension and as a Senior Systems Engineer(1983-2003) for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) . He completed his Systems Engineering Certification at UCSD in 1998 and his Ph.D. in 2008. A retirement ceremony is planned for Summer 2011 on the USS Midway Museum.