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John R. Spruill

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERT at Merrill Lynch
HIANG Weather Officer 1999 - 2004
USAF Weather Officer 1994 - 1999
HMSO Vice President 1997-1998

John Spruill was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida.  A weekend tradition for the Spruill Family was going to a nearby beach park called Hanna Park right outside the fence line of Mayport Naval Station.  It was here at one of the most consistent surf spots in North Florida called “The Poles” that John and his brother learned to surf.

Growing up surfing in Florida, John became interested in weather forecasting.  After high school, John wanted to serve his country and learn more about surf forecasting which resulted in an Air Force ROTC scholarship to Florida State University (FSU) to study Meteorology.

After graduation from FSU, John’s first duty assignment was Nellis AFB, Nevada. After a short tour at Nellis, John volunteered for an assignment to Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii.  This fulfilled his lifelong goal of living on the North Shore.  Shortly after moving to Sunset Beach in 1996, John met other military people (HMSO members) who surfed daily.  John served as Vice President of HMSO for a year from 1997-1998.  During this time many HMSO members moved away from Hawaii and John was part of a core group of guys that kept the club going by hosting club events and maintaining a newsletter.      

Since John wanted to “continue living the dream on the North Shore”, he decided to leave active duty to stay in Hawaii.  He continued to serve his country as a member of the Hawaii Air National Guard as a weather officer in the 199th Weather Flight assigned to the 29th Separate Infantry Brigade.  John continued to live on the North Shore of Hawaii until 2004.

At this time he made the difficult decision to leave Hawaii and continue his career development as financial planner.  He moved to Oxnard, California where he met his wife and now live near the beach not far from Naval Base Ventura County.  Although it’s not the North Shore this part of California has plenty of point breaks and beach breaks. 

Like many HMSO members, John has spent much of his life traveling the world surfing.  He has traveled & surfed all over the east and west coast of the U.S., all of the Hawaiian Islands, Baja & Mainland Mexico, Fiji, Indonesia, and Nicaragua.

Although no longer a service member and residing in Hawaii, John still believes in the ideals of HMSO and serves on the Board as the “California Advisor”.  He is ready to provide insight, assistance or just a little aloha to HMSO members traveling or PCSing to California.