Photo By Macy Harris | Naval Health Clinic Hawaii (NHCH) pharmacist, Dr. Britt C. Bayles, stands in NHCH ...... read more read more
Dr. Britt C. Bayles, a seasoned Navy veteran and pharmacist at Naval Health Clinic Hawaii (NHCH) joined the Navy in 1975. Forty five years later, he’s stuck around with one promise to his wife: “We will stay only as long as we are having fun.”
Seeking money for college and jumping at the opportunity to obtain the “too good to pass up” GI bill, a young teenaged Bayles came home from school one afternoon and told his parents he had joined the Navy. He graduated High School in 1974 and left for boot camp in August 1975 where he earned the accomplishments of Outstanding Recruit and Right Guide. Bayles hoped to be a Hospital Corpsman, but with the rate sitting at 130% manned at the time, the Navy decided he would be a Yeoman instead, despite his lack of typing skills.
“I spent two years on the USS Halsey and the last four months were spent in the Long Beach Naval Shipyards where I walked off the brow on Dec. 7, 1977 and vowed never to return to the Navy,” said Bayles. “I then spent the next four years in the Navy Reserve while going to college.”
With his sight set on education, Bayles explored his interest in healthcare by applying to medical school. However, when he wasn’t accepted, he decided to pursue pharmacy school instead. Bayles was accepted to University of California San Francisco in 1980 and was one of 19% of students without a bachelor’s degree.
Upon completing pharmacy school and graduating with a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm. D.) degree, joining the Navy began to look enticing to Bayles once more.
“I talked with my wife about our opportunities and we chose to swallow crow and become an active duty pharmacist with the Navy and stay only as long as we were having fun,” said Bayles.
From there he raised his right hand once more and continued his journey in the U.S. Navy.
“I joined the Navy as Navy Medicine’s third clinical pharmacist,” explained Bayles. “At that time, most of the country was still not producing pharmacists with Pharm. D. degrees.”
Bayles bounced around from National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) Bethesda, Maryland to U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka, Japan to Naval Medical Center San Diego, California and back to Bethesda for six years before moving to his final duty station, NHCH.
While active duty in Hawaii, Bayles served as Pharmacy Department Head. During that time, Navy Medicine West named the NHCH pharmacy as the most productive pharmacy per staff member and most cost effective pharmacy in Navy Medicine West.
On Nov. 1, 2008, Bayles left active duty with a retirement ceremony on the USS Missouri. Bayles has since joined the NHCH pharmacy team as a civilian staff pharmacist and took on his prior position of Pharmacy Department Head for a short time during 2010 and part of 2011.
Throughout his many moves and years of service to the Navy, the experiences he had and the people he met kept him “having fun”.
“The Navy overall has been rewarding with the amount of travel and job experiences I’ve had, rather than being stuck in one specific locale of job,” said Bayles. “I’ve enjoyed working for Admiral Martin at NNMC Bethesda and the trust and confidence she had in me to run the pharmacy and develop clinical pharmacy programs. I’ve also always valued the camaraderie within the active duty and Navy Pharmacy. Working with medical staff, pharmacy staff, and patients throughout the years has been rewarding.”
“I’ve never considered myself a ‘career Navy’ member,” explained Bayles. “We chose at the beginning of our marriage to stay only as long as we were having fun. There have been hardships and injustices done to use over the years but I wouldn’t trade the last 45 years for anything.”
Bayles says he may retire sometime in the future and travel the world with his wife. But for now, they’re still having fun.
| Date Taken: | 10.21.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.21.2020 13:13 |
| Story ID: | 381411 |
| Location: | HI, US |
| Web Views: | 110 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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