Father inspired by son to reenlist in the Navy 20 years later

In 1998, Brett Davenport’s Navy career came to a premature end. His marriage ended and he was left with sole custody of his two young children. Unable to go to sea due to not having a family assistance program in place, he was discharged by the Navy.

Davenport planned to make the Navy his career. His ultimate goal was to become a non-commissioned officer. But with the early end of his career, those dreams seemed to be over.

But when his youngest son, Clayton, enlisted in the Navy in 2016, Davenport realized he wanted a second chance to serve in the Navy.

“My wife and I went to see him graduate from boot camp, and that really scratched my itch — just being around that again,” Davenport told Task & Purpose. “I really missed the experience I had in the Navy and wanted to end my career. So I went back and started doing a little investigating and found out that because I had served almost 10 years on active duty, it wasn’t too late to reenlist and finish my time and be able to retire from the Reserves.”

The path back to the Navy would not be quick or easy, Davenport, 55, told Task & Purpose. He said he talked to his wife for nearly a year about wanting to reenlist until she finally told him, “Look, you need to do this or shut up.”

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But Davenport was nearly 40 at the time and weighed more than 290 pounds. Because of his age, he had to report to a Military Entrance Processing Station, or MEPS, for a physical exam. Although he passed all his medical tests, he was told that “you are too fat,” he said.

“And I said, Oh, that hurts,” he recalled with a laugh. “Is there any chance of exemption? He said: No. Too fat.

Rather than give up, Davenport decided he would meet Navy standards. He spent the next 17 months focusing on diet and exercise to lose weight. His fitness routine included a lot of cardio and he ended up losing 57 pounds.

After being weighed and measured again, he was allowed to reenlist at age 49. Because his civilian profession closely reflected his previous work in the Navy, he was not required to attend technical schools again, he said.

However, it had been so long since he had been in the Navy that his son had to teach him how to wear the men’s Type III Navy Working Uniform.

“Whenever I got out of the Navy, I still wore overalls,” Davenport said. “One of the first things I learned from him was how to wear boots. We actually did a Facetime uniform inspection so he could make sure my uniform was tidy before the first time I put it on.

Clayton Davenport was recently promoted to petty officer 1st class, said his father, who joked, “I still outrank him, which is good.”

Davenport was assigned to Navy Reserve Center Houston as part of the SurgeMain program, which provides qualified depot-level maintenance professionals to naval shipyards during periods of peak workload. In civilian life, he is co-founder and managing partner of Gibby’s Capital Investments, a real estate investment firm in Houston.

Last year, Davenport achieved his longtime goal of becoming a petty officer. But the absolute pinnacle of his Navy career was the opportunity to serve alongside his son, which he describes as “absolutely incredible.”

“In addition, we also work hard together to grow our challenge coin collection,” said Davenport. “I always get two and he always gets two, and we trade them.”

The two also learned from each other’s experiences about the Navy. The elder Davenport talks to his son about the “old school Navy stuff” he learned, and Clayton Davenport helped explain to his father how the Navy digitally tracks maintenance requirements now.

Recently, his son called him to say he was receiving the Navy Achievement Medal and asked if he could attend the ceremony. When he arrived, his son’s commanding officer asked the elder Davenport if he wanted to award the medal to his son.

“Of course, I said yes and was able to award a Navy Achievement Medal to my son in formation with his entire unit there and then go into formation together,” Davenport said. “It was an emotionally heavy moment for both of us.”

Clayton Davenport said he was “ecstatic” when he learned his father was reenlisting in the Navy, according to a Navy news release. The two men now speak with the mutual respect of fellow sailors, and Clayton added that he wouldn’t be surprised if his father was eventually promoted to senior petty officer.

“It was an honor and a privilege to carry on his name and legacy as a machinist’s mate, but the reality of him re-enlisting and falling through the ranks alongside me gave me the greatest sense of pride and honor I have ever felt,” Clayton Davenport said on press release. “It’s one thing to be empathetic, but the power of sharing the struggle has depth and inspires purpose. Father and son, yes, but now we are fellow Snipes, shipmates and brothers in arms.”

“Snipes” is Navy slang for engineers who often work deep within the mechanical sections of a ship.

His father echoed that sentiment, saying the bond between him and his son became closer with both of them in the Navy.

“Father and son will always have a special bond, but they will also be brothers in arms,” Davenport said. “Wearing the same uniform and sharing this bond brought us even closer. For me and I think for him, it’s just being able to stand side by side knowing that, in the current geopolitical climate, we could go way beyond just father and son, pretty much at any time.”

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