It was a long road from being born into a Vermont community of conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War, to the deck of the Bristol Elks Club last Friday, as Bristol resident Joel Huval retired as a Senior Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy.

In a ceremony that was equal parts solemn and patriotic and informal and full of laughs, Huval was “piped ashore” before a crowd of family and friends. “All the cool people in my life are here,” he said, calling out colleagues past and present for their support and camaraderie over the years.

His path to the Navy was, he admits, “kind of crazy.” Not long after he was born, his mother moved to New Jersey and would marry his stepfather, the man who raised him, when Huval was 3 years old. 

“My stepdad was in the National Guard during the Vietnam War, and instilled in me the value of military service,” Huval said. Still, his path to the military was not a direct one. Huval worked in a lot of different jobs before he joined the Navy, including for a lumber company, as an apprentice butcher, and a carpet installer.

“I didn’t want to join until I knew I was ready to make it a career,” he said. “I grew up around a lot of Vietnam vets who would tell me ‘join the military and stay in. Don’t do what I did, and get out. I’d be retired by now.’ So, I waited until I was absolutely sure the military was a career choice, and not just something to ‘try’.”

Huval’s primary job was mass communication — basically ensuring America’s taxpayers knew what they were buying for the Navy. “This wasn’t exactly the job I had in mind when I joined, but it’s the job the Navy said they needed me to fill, so I did it.” Predictably, Huval didn’t find the job entirely fulfilling, and soon branched out into other areas and excelled in shipboard maintenance, damage control, and even qualified and stood the watch as a Conning Officer (the officer in charge of driving the ship to ensure safe flight operations) aboard USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear aircraft carrier. The Abraham Lincoln was one of two ships, the other being the USS Harry S. Truman, where he would spend nearly 10 years of his career.

Huval was first stationed in Newport in 2011, where he became involved in training other sailors through the Center for Service Support, and it was during this tour that he met his wife Holly, and her two daughters Kara (18), and Lauren Silva (21). They were married Dec. 12, 2012. Two years later, following his tour with CSS, he became a faculty advisor at the Senior Enlisted Academy, beginning in December 2014.  

“The SEA was an amazing tour, and perhaps my favorite,” Huval said. “It’s a school designed to enhance leadership’s understanding of the U.S. National Security Strategy, Maritime Strategy, and provide a deeper insight into the fundamentals of leadership — the things leaders take for granted.”

The lessons Huval learned — and taught — at the SEA should be imparted to every manager in America. “Anyone with rank can tell someone of lower rank to go do something, and that person will most likely do it,” he said. “But a further understanding of what makes that person decide on just performing a task or taking pride and ownership in the task can change entire relationships.”

He’ll be taking that work ethic to state government.

It was a difficult decision to leave the Navy, but the timing was right. And Huval’s skills matched with a job the Rhode Island Department of Transportation was trying to fill: he’s now the Chief of Staff for Development, Training & Continuous Quality Improvement for DOT.

“I’ve been on the job for just about a month, and I really enjoy it,” he said.

It’s a week of big transitions for the Huval family — not just for Joel, but also for Kara, who will be graduating from Mt. Hope on Saturday. The family may not have been in town for long, but they are here for good.

“Back in 2011, I fell in love with two things in the East Bay area, my wife Holly, who was living in Swansea, and Bristol, which I easily convinced her to move to once we decided to marry,” said Huval. “It was everything I wanted in a town. It’s waterfront, it’s a lot of mom and pop stores, it’s patriotic. Bristol was home, and I immediately felt like I just belonged here. So, this is where I’ll spend the rest of my life: in the best town I’ve even been in, with a wonderful wife, and a bunch of dogs and cats.”