Kidder native Coty Fordyce sails world, calls Washington home

Coty Fordyce likes to pack a lot of life into each and every day, so it’s no surprise he managed to get a couple of extra days into 2012.

A sailor in the U.S. Navy, Coty completed a trip around the world on a leap year and hit the international date line on Valentine’s Day, so that year he had the unique experience of living 367 days.

Born in a St. Joseph hospital, Coty grew up in Kidder. He went to school in Hamilton and graduated from Penney High School in 2009.

Coty wasn’t sure what he was going to do after graduation. It was his grandfather, Calvin Fordyce, a veteran of WWII, who suggested Coty look into the military. His grandfather had served in the military police in the Army and been drafted.

“My grandfather thought it was a good idea with the economy being down and with all the good benefits the military has to offer, along with better job security.”

Coty joined the Navy and left for boot camp on Jan. 18, 2010. He served four years in the Navy as an interior communications electrician (IC). He got out of the service in January 2015 as a petty officer third class.

He was stationed in Bremerton, WA, at the Puget Sound Naval base. He served onboard the naval aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis CVN74.

Coty was deployed twice while working on operations with Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. He worked in the air department in the fuels division as a maintenance electrician.

Operation Enduring Freedom officially began after four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States killed nearly 3,000 people on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. During Enduring Freedom, American and British forces conducted bombing strikes against al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

The transition to Operation New Dawn, Sept. 1, 2010, marked the official end to combat operations by United States forces in Iraq.

Coty with his family in Washington State with wife Vicki and children Kelsi and Wyatt.

“Our ship was the last ship to work the Operation New Dawn because we finished the mission,” Coty says. He explains that on Dec. 18, 2011, the final command-and-control mission for U.S. forces over Iraq was flown by an E-2C Hawkeye catapulting off the carrier USS John C. Stennis. This mission effectively ended U.S. naval support for Operation New Dawn.

But it was not the end of adventures for the USS John C. Stennis.

More adventures

On Jan. 7, 2012, the USS John C. Stennis led the rescue of an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel, Al Mulahi, following her seizure by pirates. The pirates ambushed the ship and Iranian flag to search for other ships to hijack, while holding the original crew hostage. When some of the pirates attempted to board a Bahamian-flagged cargo ship, Sunshine, she radioed for assistance.

The USS John C. Stennis dispatched a helicopter and cruiser to assist. A boarding party captured the pirates who attacked Sunshine, fed them, then released them temporarily. A helicopter then secretly followed the pirates back to their mother ship, Al Mulahi. Crew from the destroyer USS Kidd then boarded the fishing vessel and arrested all of the pirates with no casualties.

“I was onboard when we seized the pirates,” Coty recalls. “We brought them to our ship and held them in our brig or prison cell on our ship. Boy, did they stink to high heaven. After they left, it took two weeks to get rid of their odor!”

Seeing the world

Coty had a good time seeing the world while in the Navy.

He has been to Portugal, Italy, Greece, Bahrain (two times), Dubai (six times) and also spent two Christmases in Dubia, Singapore (two times), Malaysia, Thailand, Hawaii (two times), and a handful of states in the US.

Coty crossed the equator twice and became a ‘shellback’ from it. The ceremony observes a mariner’s transformation from slimy Pollywog, a seaman who hasn’t crossed the equator, to trusty Shellback, also called a Son or Daughter of Neptune. It means the sailor has been tested and found seaworthy.

“I really liked drinking tiger beer with all of the locals and my shipmates out in foreign ports,” Coty says. “And the camaraderie I gained from the service was like no other. They were like brothers and sisters to me. Some I plan to stay in contact with for the rest of my life.”

Back home and with family

Coty met his wife Vicki in Washington. After he got out of the service in 2015, they married, and Coty went to work for his father-in-law at Coolwater Drilling.

“It’s a family-run business so everyone is related who works here,” Coty says.

Coolwater Drilling serves several counties in Washington. It provides well drilling, well testing, pump installation, pump repair, and much more to residential and commercial clients.

Coty and his drill helper, Teagan Hartford, run one of the two rotary drill rigs. Coty says his work in the Navy helped prepare him for his job in civilian life.

“If you would like to see the world and gain experiences that most of the world doesn’t get to have, along with obtaining a trade that can be applied to civilian life, then the Navy is a great opportunity,” Coty says.

Missing Missouri

Coty has been in Washington for eight years. He has been attending Olympic Community College for a couple of years. He and Vicki have two children, Kelsi and Wyatt. His mother Teresa Fordyce and father Danny Nalle live in Kidder and so does his sister Cara Fordyce and her boyfriend Josh Edwards. He has two brothers Bryan Nalle and his wife Andrea of Albany and Henry Nalle and his wife Chrissy of Pattonsburg.

“I try to come back as often as I can but it’s about every two years,” Coty says.

Coty says he misses everything about Missouri and all his friends and family. He has Friday videos every week on a YouTube channel called Fordyce Friday Video, which he also posts on his Facebook page.

“I use these videos to keep in touch with my family and friends back in Missouri,” Coty says. “You gain a world of experience moving away for work or the military, but you’ll never forget where you used to call home.”

Coty is pictured with his mother Teresa Fordyce.