Military 'Bull Frog' Hops Into Retirement

Capt. Pete Wikul last saw his father at the age of 8, on a street corner in his native Harlem.

"He was a heroin addict," Wikul said Friday. "It was on West 140th Street. Either the cops or the Mafia came for him. I was never sure which."

Wikul bounced from place to place after that, attending 12 schools by 12th grade. When he turned 18 he wanted to go to Vietnam, so he joined the Navy.

That was 39-plus years ago. In a colorful retirement ceremony in a hangar bay at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, Wikul was symbolically piped ashore after relinquishing his unofficial title as the "Bull Frog" -- the longest-serving active-duty member of the Navy's elite community of SEAL commandos.

Wikul, 57, with his bushy eyebrows and gray-flecked mustache, seems a poster boy for the special breed of warrior celebrated in the SEAL creed: "a common man with uncommon desire to succeed."

After two tours of duty as an enlisted man, he earned a political science degree at Old Dominion University, was commissioned an ensign and began rising through the officer ranks. He completed his Navy career as commanding officer of the Kennedy Irregular Warfare Center at the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington.

Along the way he was severely burned while saving the life of a comrade in southern Lebanon.

Wikul was the 13th "Bull Frog," a title bestowed by the UDT/SEAL Association, a fraternal organization of active-duty and retired SEALs and underwater demolition team members.

At the end of Friday's ceremony, several hundred sailors watched him pass the "Bull Frog" trophy, with its brass bullfrog perched on a pedestal, to his successor, Adm. Eric Olson.

Olson, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., is the highest-ranking sailor to assume the "Bull Frog" title.

In his remarks, Olson hailed Wikul as "a real and true frogman. It's in his DNA."

Friday's gathering was a who's who of the Navy's community of clandestine warriors. Among those present was the first "Bull Frog," retired Rear Adm. Dick Lyon, 86, of Oceanside, Calif., whose service dates back to the Scouts and Rangers, the World War II-era predecessors of the SEALs.

Also on hand was retired Master Chief Petty Officer Rudy Boesch, the third and longest-tenured "Bull Frog," who gained national fame appearing on the reality TV show "Survivor."

There were hearty frogman hugs, martial music, solemn salutes and talk of taking the fight to evildoers. Wikul was described by his comrades as a tough guy with a heart of gold, an aficionado of guns, knives and fine Scotch, a marathon runner and a jazz drummer with his own band.

Wikul said his most important work was developing the Navy intelligence center where he finished his career. The center's mission, he said, is to "find evil men so SEALs can visit them in the night and do what needs to be done."

His life story shows that "you can come from anywhere and make service a way of life," Wikul said.

Over his four-decade career, "I gradually realized it isn't about me, it's about the nation," he said.

"It's a great country. They can call me back to duty anytime."