Rear Admiral Draper L. Kauffman, considered by many UDT men-as well as present-day Navy SEALs-the "granddaddy" of naval combat demolitions, initially lost out on a naval career because of poor eyesight. The son of a vice admiral, Kauffman graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1933 but failed the precommissioning vision test.rnInstead .of serving in the Navy, he worked for the U.S. Lines Steamship Company until 1940, when he volunteered as an ambulance driver in France. Captured by the Germans that summer, he spent two months in a POW camp before being released. He subsequently served as a bomb and mine disposal officer in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. While on leave in Washington in November 1941, Kauffman was persuaded to transfer to the U.S. Navy by Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance Rear Admiral William Blandy, who was seeking an officer to organize a bomb-disposal school. Kauffman kept his British Navy rank of lieutenant when he entered the Naval Reserve.
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