Editor’s note: This story is part of a series by the Department of Defense highlighting famous sports stars and entertainers who served in the military.
By David Vergun
DOD News
Rapper MC Hammer is perhaps best known for his 1990 hit “U Can’t Touch This.”
Stanley Kirk Burrell, which is Hammer’s birth name, was also in the Navy. He served in Patrol Squadron 47 at Naval Air Station Moffett Field in Mountain View, California. He also deployed to Okinawa, Japan.
His squadron flew the P-3A Orion aircraft. The Orion, first introduced in1962, is a four-engine, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft.
Hammer attained the rank of petty officer 3rd class when his three-year assignment in the Navy ended in 1984, with an honorable discharge.
During his time in the Navy, Hammer’s rating was aviation storekeeper. He was responsible for ensuring aviation parts were ordered and inventory was up to snuff.
Today, his rating no longer exists because in 2003 it was merged into the storekeeper rating and then in 2009, the rating became logistics specialist, with the merging of storekeeper and postal clerk.
Currently, Patrol Squadron 47 is based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington and flies the P-8A Poseidon aircraft.
MC Hammer Trivia
- Hammer, who was born in 1962, was a bat boy for the Oakland Athletics baseball team in his hometown of Oakland, California, from 1973 to 1980. Later, he tried to become a player with the San Francisco Giants baseball team, but didn’t make the final cut.
- Members of the Oakland Athletics called their bat boy Hammer, because of his striking resemblance to baseball legend and Alabama native Henry “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron.
- Hammer acquired the nickname MC for being a master of ceremonies, which he used when he began performing at various clubs while on the road with the A’s.
- Hammer became an ordained minister and in the late 1990s he had a Christian television show called “MC Hammer and Friends.”
David Vergun is a writer for the Department of Defense newsroom. More of his stories can be found here: https://www.defense.gov/Search-Results/Author/71410/david-vergun/
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