Colonel Sabater attended the U.S. Naval Academy for two
years before transferring to Roanoke College in Virginia where he earned a BA
degree in Political Science. He was
commissioned in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1960 and spent the next 26 years in
service to the Corps, retiring as a full colonel.
During his years of service, he had various assignments including: Platoon Commander , Operations Officer--both
at the Battalion and Regimental level, Infantry Battalion Executive Officer and
Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion 5th Marines. He also spent a tour at the Naval Academy
Preparatory School in Bainbridge, Md., in
Research & Development in Boston Mass., four years in the Defense Intelligence
Agency with a tour as the Defense Attaché in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
and lastly as the Plans Officer for the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps Foreign
Military Sales and Training Office.
Colonel Sabater served two tours in Viet Nam, one as a Rifle
Company Commander and Battalion
Operations Officer during the period 1967-1968 and a second tour as the Operations Officer of
a special negotiating team (Four Part Joint Military Team- FPJMT) . As a member
of this team , he traveled to Hanoi almost
on a weekly basis from September 1974 to the month preceding the Evacuation in
April 1975.
During the planning for the evacuation, he organized a small
group of officers and enlisted men into an organization which was called the
Special Planning Group (SPG). The SPG was
the in -country organization responsible for coordinating the evacuation of all
U. S. personnel from Saigon proper to Tan Son Nhut Air Base and then eventually
to offshore shipping.
Colonel Sabater
attended various high level schools including the Naval War College, the
National Intelligence School, The Foreign Service Institute and the DIA Attaché
School.
Upon his retirement from the Marine Corps he lived and
worked in Europe as the regional Director of Marketing and sales for a U. S.
defense firm until his retirement in 1996. He and his wife Laura have one son and
currently live in Gig Harbor, Washington where he spends his time golfing,
fishing, hunting and playing his guitar.
Col. Sabater's The Cruise listing
© 2007, Glenn B. Knight
http://4merMarine.com/NAPS/Sabater.html
© 2006, Glenn B. Knight
http://4merMarine.com/NAPS/Knight.html
