Capt. Homer Richard Bivin was born in Ventura, Calif. and attended schools in Southern and Northern California until he joined the U.S. Navy in December, 1941. He served on the destroyer Woodworth in the Aleutian and Solomon Islands campaigns in 1942 and 1943.
He entered the Naval Academy in 1943 and graduated in June, 1946. After commissioning, he served in the aircraft carriers USS Boxer and USS Coral Sea. He entered Submarine School in 1948.
After completing that schooling, he served in the submarines USS Remona, USS Bluegill and USS Baya, all homeported in San Diego. From 1953 to 1955, he was an instructor for the Harvard University Navy Recruit Officer Training Command (NROTC). Following that, he saw service in USS Sablefish and USS Spikefish.
In 1957, he attended graduate school at Stanford University, then was assigned to the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Washington, D.C.
From 1960 to 1962, he commanded the submarine USS Greenfish out of Pearl Harbor, then attended the Armed forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va. following that assignment, he was sent to London, where he acted as liaison officer with English admiralty.
In 1965, he became a staff officer with Submarine Squadron Ten. A year later, he was named to command Submarine Division 101 out of New London, Conn.
In 1967, Bivin was assigned to the staff of the commander, Submarine Force, Atlantic, and two years later took command of the amphibious assault transport USS Cambria.
In November, 1970, Bivin was sent to Vietnam, where he served as deputy assistant chief of staff for the Military Assistance Command.
He reported to NTC in 1972 as commanding officer of Recruit Training Command. He was assigned to the staff of NTC in January, 1975 and became center commander on June 20, 1975. He retired from the Navy on June 30, 1976. Bivin was married to the former Joan Jensen of Douglaston, N.Y. They had one daughter, Jo Ann.
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