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Rear Adm. Barry M. Costello ’73
 Rear
Adm. Barry M. Costello, USN, ’73 wrote to HCM on April 5 from the
USS Constellation in the northern Persian Gulf. A native of Vermont, he
was commissioned an ensign through the College’s NROTC Program. His
sea tours include service as a navigator aboard the USS Brownson (DD868);
weapons officer aboard the USS Whipple (FF 1062); operations officer of
Destroyer Squadron Five; executive officer aboard the USS Harry W. Hill
(DD 986); commanding officer of the USS Elliot (DD 967); assistant chief
of staff for operations THIRD Fleet, and commander, Destroyer Squadron
23. Costello attended Albany Law School where he earned a juris doctor
degree. He is currently a member of the New York State Bar. He also attended
the College of Naval Command and Staff where he was selected as honor graduate,
graduating “with distinction,” and earned a master of arts degree
in foreign affairs. Additionally, he has participated in the
National Security Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at
Harvard University.
Rear Adm. Costello’s primary shore assignments include: joint planner
in the Operational and Interoperability Directorate (J-7), the Joint Staff,
and principal deputy for Senate Liaison in the Navy’s Office of Legislative
Affairs. His current assignment is deputy director for strategy and policy
(J-5), the Joint Staff. Rear Adm. Costello’s personal decorations
include the Legion of Merit with gold star; Joint Meritorious
Service Medal; the Meritorious Service Medal with two gold
stars; and the Navy Commendation
Medal with gold star. He is married to the former LuAnne Golombowski
of Durango, Colo. They have two sons, Aidan and Brendan.
I write this note from the USS Constellation in the northern Persian
Gulf (5 April 03). Our ground forces entered Baghdad today, just over two
weeks since the beginning of the war. This action was made possible by
a series of events which preceded it. The Navy saved United Nations’ oil
workers who were being brought to Basrah against their will; saved the
gulf oil platforms, preventing an environmental disaster (Iraqis were ready
with explosives to blow them, flooding the gulf waters with oil); eliminated
the Iraqi navy—neutralizing a suicide threat to coalition forces;
fired over 750 tomahawk missiles and flew thousands of strike sorties at
military targets to prep the battlefield for our ground forces; and cleared
mines from the KAA waterway so that humanitarian aid could flow to the
Iraqi people via the port city of Umm Qasr.
The young people engaged in this conflict are making America proud. They
are ordinary volunteer patriots from across the country who do extraordinary
things every day, and they make them seem routine because of their dedication
and professionalism. They did not choose this fight, but now that we are
engaged, they want to finish it. They see protest around the world and
note frequently that they fight to preserve that right of dissent.
My years at Holy Cross helped me develop a value system which has held
me in good stead over the years. I learned from the upper classmen how
to fight for diversity when the faculty was moving to evict ROTC from the
campus as a symbolic gesture against the war in 1969. The leaders of the
units appealed for a student referendum. The faculty, confident in the
result, agreed, and the rest is history. We appealed to our fellow students,
making the case that evicting ROTC from Holy Cross would have the opposite
effect—robbing the nation’s military of liberal arts-educated
leaders. Students voted 2-1 to retain, resulting in Holy Cross being the
only school to my knowledge to have an uninterrupted ROTC program. For
or against the war, we lived together, accepting that diversity of opinion
was healthy and should be encouraged.
We were given the gift of a liberal arts education, but the real lessons
of life that I retain to this day came outside the classroom from my fellow
students. I learned about integrity from Rob Malone, when he chose to decline
the money from his NROTC scholarship mid-year instead of waiting until
the end of the semester. It was a fiscally significant decision which could
have many complexities. Yet Rob made it simple—it was the right thing
to do—and he had the moral fiber to make the call.
Lessons in leadership came from Chris Schellhorn, as he set the example
on the intramural football field and as head of the NROTC program. Mike “Chief” Murray
taught the art of negotiation, a trait which he continues to use in his
successful law practice in Providence. These were the “go to” guys.
If there was a challenge, send it their way, and it would be solved. “Fire
and forget,” if you ask something of these guys, because you knew
it would happen ... period. Today, 30 years after graduation, I know that
if I picked up the phone and asked for their help, the only question would
be ‘what time do you want me there?’ The same loyalty goes back
to them from me.
I am blessed to be leading part of the greatest Navy the world has ever
seen, at one of its brightest moments in history. We recognize that we
are the last instrument of national power—after the diplomatic, economic,
and political tools. We did not choose to be on the point in this war,
but now that we are here, we will help ensure the job is finished, the
Iraqi people liberated, and the threat of WMD (weapons of mass destruction)
is diminished for our children. Thank you, Holy Cross, for setting me on
this path. I could not have asked for a better foundation for success.
RADM Barry M. Costello ’73
Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group 1
Commander, CONSTELLATION Battle Group
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