Richard Steere began fencing at the Naval Academy where he was the varsity captain in his senior year. At the 1932 Olympics the foil team, of which he was a member, defeated the French and threw the final into a series of barrage matches. This resulted in a change in the rules the following year, calling for a count of bouts in the event of a tie. Steere became a career naval officer and an expert in meteorology As a lieutenant commander during World War II he was principally responsible for determining weather conditions and their impact on amphibious landings. He served in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean and participated in the decisions to land troops at Casablanca, Sicily Salerno, and Normandy. General George S. Patton’s decision to land troops in Morocco was taken partly on Steere’s advice and against the opinions of London and Washington. For this, Patton gave him the nickname of “Commander Houdini”. He retired in 1961 with the rank of captain. Capt. Steere remained an active competitor and participated in the 1982 AFLA National Championships at the age of 73. His last recorded tournament victory was in 1989.