Captain Douglas W. Cook, U.S. Navy (Retired), passed away at home on May 26, 2023, at the age of 81, surrounded by his family and loved ones.
Captain Cook was born on February 14, 1942, to the late Richard and Frances (Watkins) Cook. From a young age, Doug was an avid and outstanding baseball player. Upon graduation from high school in Ft Lauderdale, Florida in 1960, he was recruited by several professional baseball teams. Still, he turned them all down to attend Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia, on a baseball and Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship. Upon graduating in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management, he was commissioned in the United States Navy and entered Naval Flight Training. Captain Cook received his wings and was designated a Naval Flight Officer at Corpus Christi, TX, in December 1965.
Following Captain Cook’s initial assignment with Air Transport 22 (VR-22), Moffett Field, California, he reported to Reconnaissance Attach Squadron 3 (RVAH-3) in Sanford, Florida, for RA-5C transition training and subsequent assignment to RVAH-6. He made combat deployments to VietNam aboard the USS Ranger (CV 61) and the USS Enterprise (CVN 65). Captain Cook was next assigned to the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland, where he graduated from the US Naval Test Pilot School in 1970 and completed a subsequent assignment as an engineering test flight officer. In 1973, Captain Cook again reported to RVAH-3 for RA-5C refresher training and assignment to RVAH-5, deploying aboard the USS Constellation and USS Ranger. After graduating from the Armed Forces Staff College in 1976, he returned to RVAH-3 as an instructor. In 1977, he graduated from the Electronic Warfare Officers Course at the Naval Technical Training Center, Pensacola, Florida. He completed EA-6B transition training in Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 129 (VAQ-129), Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island, Washington. He then reported as Executive Officer to VAQ-132. He served as Commanding Officer of VAQ-132 during deployments aboard USS Constellation and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69).
After graduating from the Program Management Course at the Defense Systems Management College in 1980, Captain Cook reported to Naval Air Systems Command as Deputy Program Manager for the EA-6B Aircraft Program in Crystal City, VA. In 1984, his next assignment was with the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C., where he was assigned to the staff of the Director, Research and Development Requirements, Test and Evaluation (OP-098) as Head, Strike Warfare Branch. Later, he established the Low Observables Technology and Special Program Development Division (OP-984) and served as its first director. He was assigned additional duty with the Chief of Naval Research as Director Low Observables Directorate. From 1987 to 1989, Captain Cook was Executive Assistant to Commander Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and Command Inspector General. In August 1989, Captain Cook assumed command of the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake, CA. On 22 January 1992, he became Vice Commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center – Weapons Division with top sites at Point Mugu and China Lake, California. In 1993, Captain Cook reported to the Naval Facilities Engineering System Command in Washington D.C. as Program Manager for the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Program.
Captain Cook’s awards include Legion of Merit (4 awards), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with Strike Flight Devise (5 awards), Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V for Valor (2 awards), and Navy Achievement Medal, as well as unit awards and campaign ribbons.
Captain Cook is survived by his wife of 33 years, Robin (Stout) Cook; son, Brian Cook (Delia) of Boulder, Colorado; daughter, Erin Cook of Steam Boat Springs, Colorado; three grandchildren, Anna, Braeden, and Bianca Cook.
A Memorial Service will be held at a later date. For further information, call St. Barnabas Episcopal Church on Bainbridge Island, WA, at (206) 842-5601.
Burial with Full Military Honors will take place at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in memory of Captain Douglas W. Cook to: China Lake Museum Foundation, 130 E. Las Flores Ave, Ridgecrest, CA 93555, (760) 677-2866
Online condolences can be made to https://www.cookfamilyfuneral home.com.
Regarding Cook’s Tenure at China Lake.
He took command in August of 1989, embarking on a new chapter of China Lake history. He became the 26th commander of the China Lake Naval Weapons Center. On that day, he stood before hundreds of uniformed navy personnel, civil servants, and Ridgecrest residents to describe what he called “Winds of Change.” He could not have known, nor could anyone else at that time, just how prophetic those words would become or how hard those winds of change would blow in just a short period.
The fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union, and new and confusing changes within the US military itself during the Capitol Defense Department’s early phases of base realignment and closures.
By January of 1991, the familiar Naval Weapons Center (NWC) had been disassembled to make way for a new command structure, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), to which Cook was named as Vice Commander, serving at the division’s China Lake site. Cook stated that his tenure at China Lake – both as commander of NWC and as Vice Commander of NAWCWPNS- has been chocked full of changes, almost all of which he said have been for the positive. He stated “ that major strides in improving China Lake’s infrastructure, improved relations and communications with Ridgecrest’s city government.”
