Thomas Laturi

Thomas Laturi was born and raised in Northern Minnesota, where he grew up playing youth hockey. Upon graduating high school, Thomas entered the U.S. Navy in 1995, attending basic training in Great Lakes, IL, and later reported to his first duty assignment working on the flight deck of the USS George Washington CVN-73. Deploying to the Mediterranean Sea in support of Operation Decisive Endeavour/Joint Endeavour, a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and later that year deploying to the Arabian (Persian) Gulf region in support of United Nations weapons inspections. He later redeployed to the Persian Gulf region in support of Operation Southern Watch.

After reenlisting within the USN reserves with Naval Reserve (NR) SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team-One in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, Thomas later served with NR Operational Support Team (OST) – 2/SEAL Team-18. In 2007, he attended Naval Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman (SWCC) training at the Naval Special Warfare Training Center in Coronado, CA, graduating with SWCC class 57. After completing his training, he was mobilized in support of the Global War on Terrorism to Special Boat Team-22. Upon his return and selection of Senior Chief (E-8), he became the operations Leading Chief Petty Officer (LCPO) to Surface Support Unit (SSU) – 18 and later served as the Command Senior Enlisted Advisor (SEA). Following his tour at SSU-18, he served as the Special Operations Command-South Commander’s Liaison Officer to Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-S).