USNA Out

Skip Dupont '83

USNA ’83

Homepage:

Skip was born and raised in Chicopee, Massachusetts, a small semi-industrial city near the crossroads of New England at the intersection of Interstates 90 and 91. He attended public schools for his entire education and while he only garnered a 4th alternate nomination from his congressman, he somehow came to the attention of the Candidate Guidance Office at USNA and was offered a chance to attend the Naval Academy Prep School (NAPS) in Newport, Rhode Island. Though Skip had already made plans to enlist in the Navy and try to get to the Academy that way, he accepted the offer to attend NAPS and was awarded an appointment to USNA after completing the one year NAPS program.

Once he arrived in Annapolis, Skip wasn’t a scholar or an athlete. He majored in History and managed to squeak by with a 2.19 GPA. He tried fencing as a sport, but he wasn’t very good at it. However, during his youngster year the coach asked him to stay on as a manager. Skip was a member of the History Club and was its president during his first class year. On Service Selection Night, Skip chose to enter the Marine Corps and was commissioned a second lieutenant on May 25, 1983.

Once in the Marine Corps and at The Basic School in Quantico, Virginia, Skip decided that a combat arms MOS wasn’t particularly appealing. He selected Motor Transport because he felt it might give him some marketable skills when it was time to leave. After completing Motor Transport School, Skip went to his first duty station with the 3rd Tank Battalion at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, 29 Palms, California. After spending just over 2 years there, he found himself headed to the 1st Marine Air Wing in Okinawa, Japan, just in time for a restructuring of the wing’s service support activities. Skip was the first motor transport officer for Marine Wing Support Squadron 174. He later served as Assistant S-3 and as Personnel Officer/Adjutant in the same unit. From Okinawa, having been selected for Captain, Skip was sent to the U. S. Army Advanced Transportation School at Fort Eustis, Virginia. He was one of 3 Marine officers in that class. Just as the course was ending, Skip achieved the rank of Captain, and his orders came through to send him to 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. This would be Skip’s final duty station as he decided to leave the service in 1990. His discharge came through just as the first Gulf War was breaking out. When told by his CO that he was welcome to stay, Skip declined the offer.

From then on North Carolina became Skip’s home. He moved from the Camp Lejeune area up to the Research Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) and settled into life as a civilian. He met his first partner, Jamie, not long after moving there. The relationship would last over 6 years and ended only after Jamie succumbed to AIDS in 1997. After a period of trying to figure out which end was up and how to keep moving on, Skip met his current partner Dennis. They have been together since September of 2000 and committed themselves to each other during a civil union ceremony in Vermont in September of 2002.

From Skip:

“I suspected I was gay when I first entered NAPS and went on to the Academy. But, I played by the rules. I kept my head down and did my job, whether it was academics while in school or running a motor pool at a unit. I learned not to draw too much attention to myself for fear that someone would figure out that I was hiding something. Well, I’m hiding no more. I’m out at work to my co-workers and supervisors. After leaving the service I came out to my family and several friends. And, with few exceptions, I’ve not been disappointed by them. I’ve been out at every job I’ve held since leaving the Marine Corps and I’m no longer keeping my head down and just doing my job. Since leaving the military I’ve been happier and mentally healthier.”

Please feel free to contact Skip here at USNA Out.